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UNIVERSITY  FARM 


North  American"  Forests 
and  Forestry 

Their  Relations  to  the  National  Life 
of  the  American  People 


BY 

Ernest  Bruncken 

Secretary  of  the  late  Wisconsin  State  Forestry 
Commission 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
New  York  and  London 
Ifcnicfeerbocfeer  press 

1900 


COPYRIGHT,  1899 

BY 
ERNEST    BRUNCKEN 


Ube  f?nfcfcerbocfeer  pre0g,  Hew  fljorfe 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION i 

Civilization  Founded  on  Natural  Conditions — Interest  Attaching 
to  this  Relation — Not  a  Subject  for  Sentimentalists — Purpose 
of  this  Volume — Not  Intended  for  Professional  Foresters — 
Treatment  of  Forests  a  Test  of  Democratic  Government. 

CHAPTER   II 
THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  FOREST 5 

Northern  Temperate  Forest  Regions — Subdivisions  of  the  North 
American  Forest — Distribution  of  Forests  not  Accidental — The 
Forest  an  Organism  Subject  to  Definite  Laws — The  Eastern 
Forest — The  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  Coast  Forests — 
Causes  of  Distribution — The  Warfare  of  the  Forest — How 
Phases  of  the  Struggle  Become  of  Importance  in  Silviculture — 
Weapons  of  Offense  and  Defense — Windfalls — Succession  of 
Species — The  Forest  under  the  Control  of  Man. 

CHAPTER   III 

THE  FOREST  AND  MAN 34 

Great  Britain  and  the  American  Woods — Naval  Stores — The 
Surveyor-General  of  the  Woods — One  of  the  Causes  of  the  Revo- 
lution— The  Fur  Trade — The  Backwoodsman — His  Characteris- 
tics the  Product  of  Forest  Influences — How  He  Affected  American 
History — Settlement  in  the  Western  Forests — The  Indian  Trail 
— Lost  in  the  Woods — Transportation  Facilities — Advent  of  the 
Railway — Man  the  Conqueror — Rise  of  the  Lumber  Industry — 
The  Inexhaustible  Supply. 


iv  Contents 

CHAPTER   IV 

PAGE 

THE  FOREST  INDUSTRIES        ......     60 

Economic  Importance  of  Forest  Industries — Some  of  the  Minor 
Branches — Wood  Pulp — Fuel — The  Lumber  Business — Hard  and 
Soft  Woods,  So-called — Little  to  Learn  from  Europe — How  Long 
will  the  Original  Supply  Last? — Substitutes  for  Wood — How 
Lumbering  is  Carried  on — Recent  Changes  in  Method — Rafting 
— Booms  and  Dams — At  the  Mill — Grades  of  Lumber — Logging 
Railways — The  Cruiser — The  Lumber  Camp — The  River  Drive 
— Lumbering  in  the  South  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast — Scaling 
Logs — Lumber  Business  Indispensable  to  the  Nation. 

CHAPTER  V 
DESTRUCTION  AND  DETERIORATION        .         .         .         .89 

Erroneous  Notions — Great  Area  of  Woodland  still  in  Existence 
— Disappearance  of  Merchantable  Timber — Legitimate  Removal 
of  Forest — Causes  of  Forest  Destruction — Woodland  Wastes — 
The  Principal  Guilt  with  the  American  People — The  Forest  Fires 
— Origin  of  Fires — How  Small  Fires  Become  Large — Damage 
Done  by  Fire — Villages  Destroyed — Lives  Lost — Some  Great  Con- 
flagrations— Attitude  of  the  Settlers — Comparative  Immunity  of 
Broad-leaved  Forests — Reforestation  of  Burnt-over  Areas — In- 
jury by  Pasturing  Cattle. 

CHAPTER  VI 
FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 121 

What  Forestry  Is  Not,  and  What  It  Is — Not  a  New  Thing  in 
the  United  States— Reform  Needed— The  Art  of  Utilizing 
Forests — Divers  Uses  of  Forests — Annual  Revenues  from  Perma- 
nent Forests — Incidental  Uses  of  Forests — Private  and  Public 
Interest  in  Forests — Different  Forms  of  Forest  Policy — Protective 
Forests — Misunderstandings — Silviculture — Financial  Considera- 
tions. 

CHAPTER   VII 

FOREST  FINANCE  AND  MANAGEMENT     ....   140 

Forestry  and  Agriculture — When  the  Crop  Is  Ripe — Biological 
Factors  —  Yield  Tables — Financial  Factors  —  Market  Price — 
Transportation — Forest  Management — Working  Plans — Rota- 


Contents  v 

PACK 

tion  Periods — Applicability  of  European  Methods  to  United 
States — Why  Are  Better  Methods  not  Adopted  by  Lumbermen  ? 
— Some  Imaginary  Obstacles — Economic  Conditions  in  Europe 
and  America — Intensive  Management — The  Real  Obstacles. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
FORESTRY  AND  GOVERNMENT 161 

Double  Relation  of  Government  to  Forests — Public  Lands — 
Private  and  Public  Forest  Management — Protective  Forests — 
Effects  of  Deforestation  on  Climate,  Water  Flow,  and  Erosion 
— Irrigation  in  the  West — Forests  as  Recreation  Grounds — Sum- 
mer Resorts  and  Forests — Investigation  into  Forest  Conditions- 
Legislative  Action. 

CHAPTER   IX 
FIGHTING  FIRES  AND  THIEVES 183 

Few  Forest  Fires  in  Other  Countries — Legitimate  Use  of  Fire  in 
the  Woods — European  Means  of  Fire  Protection — Different 
Methods  Required  under  Present  American  Conditions — Obsta- 
cles to  an  Effective  Fire  Police — Excessive  Division  of  Property 
— Timber  Stealing — Criminal  Statutes — Enforcement  Difficult — 
Regulations  Regarding  Fires  in  Forests — Fire  Wardens — Public 
Opinion — Educational  Forces — Indirect  Effects  of  Fire  on  Lum- 
bering Methods — Conservative  Lumbering. 

CHAPTER   X 
FORESTRY  AND  TAXATION 208 

Antiquated  Tax  Systems — Excessive  Taxation  of  Timber  Prop- 
erty— Unjust  Assessments — Taxation  without  Representation — 
Practical  Confiscation — Forest  Valuation — Forest  Mensuration 
— How  the  Taxes  are  Expended — Proposed  Remedies — Condi- 
tional Exemptions — Taxes  on  Gross  Income — Protective  Tariffs 
— People  more  Interested  in  Tax  Reform  than  Owners  Them- 
selves— Public  Opinion  and  Legislation. 

CHAPTER  XI 
REFORM  IN  FORESTRY  METHODS 228 

The  Beginning  of  Agitation — Scientific  Men  the  First  to  See  the 
Need — Advantages  and  Drawbacks  of  this  Circumstance — For- 


vi  Contents 


PACK 

estry  as  a  Fad — Maintaining  Tracts  of  Wilderness — National 
Parks — Forest  Reserves — Their  Management — A  Well-meant 
Mistake  in  New  York — Geological  Surveys  and  Experiment  Sta- 
tions— Forestry  Division  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture — Biltmore — Silvicultural  Forestry  Elsewhere — The 
American  Forestry  Association — Forestry  Publications — Attitude 
of  the  Lumber  Interest. 

CHAPTER   XII 

FORESTRY  AS  A  PROFESSION 245 

What  Is  a  Forester— Fundamental  Training  of  Foresters — The 
Artisan  and  the  Professional  Man — Non-Professional  Students — 
The  New  York  State  College  of  Forestry  at  Cornell  University- 
Forestry  School  at  Biltmore — The  United  States  Forestry  Division 
and  Education — Forestry  at  Agricultural  Colleges — Forestry  in 
the  Universities — Chances  of  Employment  for  Trained  Foresters 
— Attractiveness  of  the  Profession  of  Forestry — The  Kind  of  Men 
Needed — Forestry  and  the  Nation — Recapitulation — Conclusion. 


INDEX 263 


NORTH  AMERICAN  FORESTS  AND 
FORESTRY 


NORTH  AMERICAN  FORESTS 
AND  FORESTRY 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTION 

MODERN  civilization  attains  its  height,  and 
produces  its  blossoms  and  fruits,  such  as 
they  are,  for  good  and  evil,  in  the  artificial  life  of 
the  great  cities  ;  but  its  roots  are  sunk  deeply  into 
the  soil  prepared  by  nature  herself.  Millions  of 
years  before  the  first  spark  of  intellectual  life  in  a 
humanlike  being  made  the  beginning  of  a  rude 
culture  possible,  that  mysterious  earth-life  which 
throbs  in  the  multitudinous  surges  of  the  ocean,, 
the  stormy  atmosphere  enveloping  the  crags  of  the 
Sierra,  the  torrid  sunshine  of  the  desert,  the  splashy 
brook  of  the  meadow,  and  the  soughing  pines  of 
the  forest,  had  laid  deeply  and  lovingly  the  founda- 
tions without  which  there  could  have  been  none  of 
the  rich,  full,  invigorating  activity  of  city  life.  Cut 
the  threads  which  connect  the  humanity  of  New 
York  and  Chicago  with  the  remotest  solitude,  and 
civilized  life  must  wither  and  die. 


2      North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

To  him  who  tries  to  understand  with  head  and 
heart  the  subtle  cords  joining  his  own  individuality 
to  the  natural  conditions  about  him,  as  well  as  to 
him  who  takes  his  place  as  one  of  the  fighters  in 
the  struggle  that  lifts  mankind  to  ever  greater 
heights,  to  the  thinker  as  well  as  the  doer,  the 
connection  between  civilization  and  nature  cannot 
fail  to  be  of  never-ceasing  interest.  To  show  in 
a  comprehensive  glance  how  this  connection  is 
formed  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  great  forms  of  earth-life,  the  forest,  is  the 
object  of  this  little  volume. 

It  is  a  subject  worthy  the  attention  of  the  phi- 
losopher, the  statesman,  the  economist,  the  man  of 
science,  the  business  man,  the  lover  of  mankind 
and  of  nature.  But  let  no  one  imagine  that  it  is  a 
subject  for  the  idler,  the  dreamer,  the  selfish  dilet- 
tante who  is  a  mere  looker-on  in  life's  battle.  To 
that  false  theory  of  life  which  cannot  find  in  the 
common  activities  of  man  anything  but  sordidness, 
which  cannot  discern  the  dignity  at  the  core  of  the 
laborer's  task  with  axe  and  saw,  or  concealed  under 
the  dust  and  chaff  of  the  market-place,  forests  and 
forestry  are  incomprehensible.  Nor  is  it  a  subject 
for  sentimentalists  to  play  with,  and  tickle  their 
pretty  fancies  and  emotions.  Forestry  is  a  subject 
for  men  who  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  world's 
struggle  doing  their  part  with  brain  and  brawn, 
and  feeling  the  joy  which  is  the  heritage  of  the 
strong  in  victory  or  defeat. 

With  the  heart-life  of  the  wilderness  the  forester 


Introduction  3 

has  a  sympathy  so  deep  and  true  that  the  poetaster 
who  sings  his  dainty  elegy  on  the  death  of  a  tree 
cannot  even  imagine  it.  This  very  depth  and 
truth  help  him  to  realize  that  the  primeval  wil- 
derness is  but  one  of  the  changing  forms  of  life, 
which  plays  its  part  and  does  its  task,  and  pres- 
ently must  give  way  to  other  and  better  develop- 
ments. Nature  untouched  by  human  hands  is 
beautiful  and  grand,  but  grander  and  more  beauti- 
ful is  the  life  of  man,  with  its  constant  striving  for 
a  more  complete  subjection  of  the  forces  and  mat- 
ter of  nature  to  the  aspirations  of  the  human 
spirit.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  inten- 
tion of  the  author,  as  it  is  from  the  mind  of  the 
forester  who  loves  his  work,  than  to  swell  the 
chorus  of  those  who  ignorantly,  although  often  in 
imagined  superiority  of  knowledge,  cry  out  against 
the  activity  of  those  sturdy  and  simple  men  who 
are  adding  untold  millions  to  the  national  wealth 
by  utilizing  the  stores  which  nature  has  prepared 
for  us  by  the  patient  work  of  untold  ages. 

But  the  author,  like  the  true  forester,  would  fain 
do  his  share  to  combat,  wherever  he  finds  them, 
the  ignorance  which  wastes  instead  of  using  the 
riches  kind  nature  has  prepared  for  us  ;  the  heed- 
lessness  that  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  do  its 
best ;  the  greed  that  overreaches  itself  in  its  haste 
to  get  all ;  the  selfishness  which  cares  not  for  its 
neighbor,  though  he  suffer  and  perish.  The  pro- 
fessional forester  will  not  find  in  this  book  any- 
thing that  is  not  already  familiar  to  him,  and  will 


4      North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

miss  much  that  he  may  deem  important.  But  to 
him  these  pages  are  not  addressed.  They  desire 
to  be  read  by  the  many  who  take  a  living  interest 
in  all  questions  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  nation, 
and  by  those  who  love  the  life  of  nature  without 
standing  apart  from  the  more  strenuous  current  of 
human  existence.  To  such  the  book  may  be  a 
convenient  help  to  obtain  a  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  a  subject  that  has  already  engaged  the 
attention  of  many  of  the  leading  minds  of  the 
coi  ntry,  and  must  soon  come  to  the  front  as  one 
of  the  great  questions  demanding  solution  by  the 
American  people  and  putting  to  a  severe  test  the 
efficiency  and  permanence  of  its  democratic  form 
of  government  and  society. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    FOREST 

THERE  are  in  the  northern  temperate  zone 
three  great  forest  regions  :  The  eastern  Asian, 
including  principally  the  eastern  portion  of  Siberia, 
Manchuria,  and  the  Japanese  archipelago ;  the 
European ;  and  the  American  forests,  including 
great  portions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  American  forest  may  be  subdivided  into  three 
groups :  The  great  eastern  forest,  which  originally 
covered  nearly  all  the  territory  on  the  Atlantic  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  several  places  extends 
considerably  beyond  that  river  ;  the  forests  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  regions,  including  the  minor  moun- 
tain ranges  of  the  great  basin  ;  and  the  Pacific  coast 
forest.  The  immense  areas  lying  between  these 
subdivisions  are  occupied  by  the  grass  plains  of  the 
eastern  slope  and  the  alkali  and  sage-brush  des- 
erts of  the  interior,  both  of  them  distinguished  by 
the  almost  total  absence  of  tree  growth.  On  the 
northern  edge  these  three  forest  zones  converge,  so 
that  there  is  a  subarctic  forest  belt  stretching  from 
ocean  to  ocean.  We  have  before  us  the  task  of 
describing  the  relations  existing  between  the  life 
of  the  American  people  as  a  social  organism,  and 

5 


6      North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  forest  with  its  manifold  productions.  It 
seems  natural  to  begin  by  considering  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  forests  themselves,  such  as  they 
were  before  the  hand  of  man  wrought  the  vastly 
changed  conditions  under  which  they  now  exist 
In  doing  so  we  cannot  think  of  delineating  in  de- 
tail the  botanical  or  physiographic  phenomena  of 
this  great  form  of  plant  life.  He  who  would  learn 
of  the  different  species  of  trees  composing  it,  their 
dendrological  character,  their  manner  of  life  and 
growth,  will  have  to  look  elsewhere  for  such  infor- 
mation. Nor  will  we  have  space  to  wax  eloquent 
about  the  beauty  of  our  sylvan  inheritance.  Al- 
though the  esthetic  point  of  view  has  its  very  im- 
portant place  in  our  relations  to  surrounding  nature, 
we  cannot  in  this  volume  concern  ourselves  with 
that  aspect.  What  this  initial  chapter  seeks  to  im- 
press firmly  upon  the  minds  of  such  as  may  feel 
inclined  to  follow  the  author  through  these  pages 
is  simply  this  :  the  manner  in  which  the  various 
trees  are  associated  in  the  wilderness  is  not  the 
result  of  accident,  but  determined  by  complex,  but 
very  definite,  laws.  If  one  had  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  those  laws  he  could  predict  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty the  number,  species,  and  character  of  the 
trees  to  be  found  in  any  given  locality.  And  further : 
the  forest  is  not  a  thing  that  was  made  once  and 
remained  the  same  ever  after.  It  has  grown  and 
develops  as  a  whole,  just  as  each  individual  tree 
grows  from  infancy  to  old  age.  Again,  this  growth 
and  constant  change  takes  place  according  to  very 


The  North  American  Forest  7 

complex  and  unalterable  laws.  Each  tree  does  not 
constitute  an  independent  entity,  but  is  affected  in 
every  moment  of  its  life  by  every  other  tree  and 
minor  plant  of  the  entire  forest,  and  in  turn  itself 
influences  every  other  tree.  The  forest  therefore 
constitutes  an  organism,  having  a  united  life  differ- 
ent from,  but  dependent  on,  the  life  of  its  individ- 
ual members.  Within  this  organism,  a  never-ceas- 
ing struggle  is  going  on,  tree  fighting  against  tree, 
species  against  species ;  while  the  entire  organism 
carries  on  a  warfare  with  other  plant  associations, 
such  as  the  prairie  and  the  bog,  in  which  it  is  some- 
times vanquished,  sometimes  victorious. 

To  the  ingenuity  of  man,  with  the  help  of  such 
knowledge  as  he  may  acquire  of  the  laws  regula- 
ting the  life  of  the  forest  organism,  it  is  possible  to 
make  use  of  the  various  phases  of  this  warfare  for 
his  own  purposes.  By  creating  conditions  favoring 
some  particular  species  of  tree  he  is  able  to  help  it 
to  spread  and  flourish  at  the  expense  of  its  compet- 
itors ;  and  similarly  he  may  create  conditions  which 
help  the  forest  as  a  whole  to  maintain  itself  against 
the  aggression  of  other  plant  associations.  No 
small  part  of  silviculture — or  the  art  of  caring  for 
woodlands — consists  in  just  such  interference  in  the 
natural  processes  of  forest  development,  rather  than 
planting  and  sowing.  In  order  to  understand  the 
relations  of  forestry  to  our  national  life,  the  reader 
should  have  in  his  mind  an  outline  at  least  of  what 
American  forests  are  like,  and  also  of  how  they  came 
to  be  what  they  are. 


8      North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

Each  of  the  three  main  subdivisions  of  the 
North  American  forest  has  peculiarities  distinguish- 
ing them  from  the  others.  Let  us  first  look  at  the 
great  Atlantic  region.  This  immense  territory 
was,  when  white  men  first  came  to  our  shores, 
almost  uninterruptedly  covered  with  forest.  For 
thousands  of  square  miles,  in  many  portions  of  it, 
there  was  not  enough  open  space  to  establish  a 
forty-acre  farm  on.  There  was  an  occasional  strip 
of  sedge-covered  marsh  along  the  streams ;  an 
open  bog  had  here  and  there  taken  the  place  of  a 
former  lake.  The  few  small  clearings  made  by 
the  Indians  were  hardly  worth  counting.  Thus 
the  interminable  woods  extended  from  the  salt 
meadows  of  the  tide-water  line  to  the  Appalachian 
Mountain  chain,  swept  up  its  ridges  and  peaks, 
leaving  bare  but  a  few  of  the  highest  tops,  filled 
the  broad  longitudinal  valleys,  and  descended  into 
the  great  rolling  plain  of  the  Mississippi  country. 
But  here  its  character  changed  by  degrees.  More 
and  more  frequently  the  vast  continuity  of  it  was 
interrupted  by  prairies,  grass-covered  and  flower- 
studded,  many  of  them  of  vast  extent.  Towards 
the  north,  to  be  sure,  in  what  are  now  the  northern 
portions  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  Northeastern 
Minnesota,  and  especially  the  immense  territory 
between  the  Great  Lakes  and  Hudson  Bay,  there 
are  no  prairies.  The  dense  unbroken  forest,  the 
"  heavy  timber "  as  it  is  called  by  the  people  of 
the  locality,  is  there  bounded  quite  abruptly  by  the 
treeless  expanses  of  the  Great  Plains,  where  the 


The  North  American  Forest  9 

miserable  inhabitants  talk  of  a  forest  when  they 
see  a  few  willow  shrubs  and  poplars  in  a  ravine  by 
the  river.  But  farther  to  the  south,  there  was  a 
large  region  where  forest  and  prairie  struggled  for 
mastery,  with  the  result  that,  generally  speaking, 
the  prairies  covered  the  undulating  uplands,  sedge 
marshes  the  wet,  broad  depressions,  and  forests  the 
river  valleys,  as  well  as  the  few  hilly  places.  There 
were  also  light  groves,  called  openings,  in  many 
places  in  the  uplands. 

The  species -constituting  this  great  area  of  prime- 
val forest  were  far  from  being  the  same  in  all  parts 
of  the  territory.  Far  to  the  north,  on  the  bleak 
shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  hardly  anything  was  found 
except  spruce  (Picea  mariana  and  P.  canadensis), 
together  with  the  balsam  poplar  (Populus  balsami- 
fera).  As  you  go  south,  the  first  additional  trees 
you  meet  with  will  be  the  little  jack  pine  (Pinus 
divaricatd)  and  the  aspen  (Populus  tremuloides). 
Soon  you  enter  the  domain  of  the  king  of  lumber 
trees,  the  stately  white  pine  (Pinus  strobus),  with 
her  cousin,  the  misnamed  Norway  (P.  resinosd), 
and  the  dignified,  slow-growing  hemlock  (Tsuga 
canadensis).  By  this  time  you  are  fairly  within 
the  realm  of  the  broad-leaved  trees,  the  oaks, 
maples,  beeches,  chestnuts,  the  walnuts  and  hicko- 
ries, the  tulip  tree  and  sassafras,  the  gigantic  syca- 
more, or  buttonwood  as  they  call  it  in  the  Eastern 
States.  The  farther  south  you  go,  the  greater 
becomes  the  number  of  species,  until  when  you 
reach  about  the  latitude  of  Kentucky  or  Southern 


io     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

Illinois  the  list  becomes  so  long  that  it  would  fill 
several  pages  of  this  volume.  Here  and  in  the 
region  of  North  Carolina  the  eastern  forest  reaches 
its  greatest  development  so  far  as  diversity  of  trees 
is  concerned.  Farther  south,  the  coniferous  trees, 
especially  the  different  kinds  of  pine,  again  become 
more  prominent,  as  they  were  towards  the  border 
of  British  America.  The  southernmost  end  of  the 
region,  the  extreme  southern  part  of  Florida,  with 
the  adjoining  islands  or  "  keys,"  takes  on  a  different 
character,  many  varieties  properly  belonging  with 
the  typical  West  Indian  species.  The  most  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  whole  region,  excepting 
the  arctic  edge,  is  the  prevalence  of  broad-leaved 
trees.  Over  very  wide  areas  not  a  coniferous  tree 
can  be  seen,  unless  it  be  the  arbor-vitae  (Thuja 
occidentalis)  and  tamarack  (Larix  laricina)  of  the 
swamps.  Elsewhere  broad-leaved  and  coniferous 
trees  grow  mingled  together,  with  broad-leaved 
ones  holding  the  decided  majority  ;  while,  to  be  sure, 
there  are  also  large  areas  where  the  pines  and  their 
congeners  exclude  their  broad-leaved  rivals  almost 
altogether. 

But  in  the  other  two  forest  zones,  the  Rocky 
Mountain  and  the  Pacific,  the  coniferous  or  ever- 
green trees  have  almost  a  monopoly.  Not  as  if 
there  were  no  broad-leaved  species  in  those  sec- 
tions. There  are  many,  oaks,  maples,  poplars,  and 
others.  But  they  form  little  scattered  groves  here 
and  there,  or  crouch  in  the  ravines  of  the  mountain 
streams,  without  impressing  themselves  upon  the 


The  North  American  Forest  n 

character  of  the  landscape.  There  is  another  feat- 
ure of  the  western  forests,  or  the  larger  portion 
of  them,  which  makes  their  aspect  quite  different 
from  eastern  woodlands.  That  is  the  fact  that  the 
trees,  in  many  cases,  stand  far  apart,  so  that  their 
crowns  do  not  always  touch.  While  in  the  east 
the  trees,  both  broad-leaved  and  evergreen,  stand 
so  close  together  that  the  branches  intermingle  and 
form  a  dense  canopy,  through  which  but  few  scat- 
tered rays  of  sunshine  ever  reach  the  ground,  such 
is  not  the  case  in  the  forests  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains or  the  Sierra  Nevada.  One  of  the  conse- 
quences of  this  manner  of  growth  is  that  the  soil 
in  the  western  forests  becomes  much  drier  than  it 
ever  does  in  the  east.  This  fact  will  probably 
have  an  important  bearing  upon  silviculture  when 
that  is  begun  in  earnest  in  the  western  country. 
Another  feature  distinguishing  the  forests  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  from  those  of  the  Atlantic 
side  is  that  they  nowhere  cover  such  immense  areas 
in  unbroken  compactness.  They  are  distributed 
along  the  mountain  ranges  in  belts,  leaving  bare 
the  highest  portions  where  reigns  the  eternal  snow, 
and  rarely  occupying  the  broader  valleys  and  plains. 
Not  only  have  the  pines  and  other  coniferous 
trees  the  overwhelming  majority  of  numbers  in 
those  western  forests ;  they  also  display  a  far 
greater  variety  of  species,  compared  with  eastern 
woods.  Some  of  the  western  species,  like  the 
western  white  pine  (Pinus  flexilis)  or  the  bull  pine 
(P.  ponder osa),  spread  over  large  areas,  while  others, 


i^     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

like  the  Monterey  pine  (Pinus  radiata)  or  the 
redwood  (Sequoia  sempervirens),  are  restricted  to 
a  few  valleys  or  mountain  ranges.  Of  the  109 
coniferous  trees  native  to  the  United  States  and 
enumerated  in  Sudworth's  list,  eirfitv  belong  to 

O  J  O 

the  country  west  of  the  great  plains,  twenty-eight 
to  the  eastern  forest,  while  only  one,  the  common 
juniper  {Juniperus  communis),  inhabits  portions  of 
both  regions. 

What  has  been  said  about  the  peculiarly  open 
character  of  much  of  the  western  forest  does  not 
apply  to  those  portions  found  in  the  western  halves 
of  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  thence  stretching 
along  the  coast  into  Alaska  and  far  towards  the 
Arctic  regions.  On  the  contrary,  these  are  among 
the  densest  woods  in  the  whole  world,  where  under 
the  vaults  of  the  immense  crowns,  that  are  swung 
from  the  column-like  trees  at  a  height  of  100  or 
150  feet,  eternal  twilight  covers  the  ground.  Of 
all  the  forests  of  the  world  these  have  the  most 
gigantic  trees,  barring  only  the  Sequoias  of  Cali- 
fornia, of  which  we  will  speak  anon.  Compared 
to  the  spruces,  firs,  and  pines  of  the  Puget  Sound 
region,  the  mightiest  of  eastern  pines  and  even  the 
giant  sycamores  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  river  bot- 
toms are  but  smallish.  Xo  one  who  has  en- 
tered those  dense  forests  composed  of  trees  250 
feet  tall  and  having  six  and  more  feet  in  diameter 
has  failed  to  be  impressed  with  their  grandeur, 
and  literature  is  filled  with  attempts  to  describe 
their  majesty.  But  they  are  surpassed  by  the 


The  North  American  Forest  13 

redwood  (Sequoia  semperwrens\  that  magnificent, 
cypress-like  giant  which  forms  a  belt,  from  ten  to 
twenty  miles  wide,  along  the  California  coast  from 
the  Oregon  boundary  to  a  point  in  Monterey 
Count}*,  a  little  north  of  San  Francisco.  And  even 
the  redwood  is  not  equal  in  size  to  the  famous  big 
tree  (Sequoia  gigaiUea)^  the  pride  of  the  Sierra. 
This  tree  is  known  to  tourists  principally  by  the 
comparatively  few  specimens  growing  in  the  pro- 
tected groves  of  Calaveras  and  elsewhere,  But  it 
reaches  its  grandest  development  farther  south,  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  Sierra,  where  it  forms,  not 
small  groves,  but  extensive  forests. 

How  did  the  forests  and  the  species  compos- 
ing them  come  to  be  distributed  over,  the  North 
American  continent  in  just  the  peculiar  manner  in 
which  we  find  them  ?  Before  very  much  was 
known  about  plant  geography,  people  used  to  be 
content  with  saying  that  each  tree  found  itself  in 
that  region  the  natural  conditions  of  which  were 
most  adapted  to  its  nature.  But  such  vague  an- 
swers no  longer  content  us  to-day.  The  science  of 
palaeobotany,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  plants  which 
existed  on  the  globe  in  former  geological  periods, 
has  helped  us  on  the  track  of  this  secret  of  nature. 
To  be  sure  even  now  we  know  these  things  frag- 
mentarily  only,  and  an  almost  limitless  field  is  here 
still  open  to  investigation.  But  this  we  can  now 
affirm  :  The  distribution  of  trees  is  due  to  two 
sets  of  factors, — one  topographical  and  climatic, 
based  upon  the  differences  of  soil,  elevation, 


14     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

temperature,  humidity,  and  so  forth.  The  other  fac- 
tor is  historical,  arising  out  of  the  order  in  which  the 
seeds  of  different  species  were  deposited  in  each 
particular  locality,  or  failed  to  be  so  deposited. 

The  palaeobotanists,  drawing  their  conclusions 
from  the  remnants  of  wood,  impressions  of  leaves, 
flowers,  and  fruit,  and  other  small  relics  of  extinct 
vegetation  which  are  found  imbedded  in  rocks  and 
beds  of  coal  or  peat,  have  established  the  fact  that 
during  what  are  known  as  tertiary  times,  vast  for- 
ests, composed  of  trees  not  very  different  from 
those  now  growing  in  the  United  States,  existed  in 
far  northern  regions,  nearly  up  to  the  pole,  where 
now  everything  is  decked  with  ice  and  snow.  But 
the  warm  climate  of  the  tertiary  ages  was  succeeded 
by  the  secular  winter,  which  is  known  as  the  glacial 
period  of  the  quaternary  epoch,  and  of  which  most 
of  my  readers  have  heard.  Farther  and  farther 
south  crept  the  great  glaciers,  joined  by  those  flow- 
ing down  from  the  high  mountains  of  the  west, 
until  the  whole  northern  part  of  the  continent,  as 
far  south  as  the  latitude  of  Cincinnati,  and  even 
beyond,  was  covered  with  a  sheet  of  ice  of  immense 
thickness,  leaving  but  here  and  there  an  island  un- 
covered, like  the  celebrated  driftless  area  of  South- 
western Wisconsin.  Before  the  advance  of  the  ice 
and  the  cooling  of  the  climate  that  was  both  cause 
and  consequence  of  the  glaciation,  the  forests  suc- 
cumbed, and  the  species  composing  them  were  either 
extinguished  or  became  restricted  to  more  southern 
latitudes.  But  after  thousands  of  years  the  climate 


The  North  American  Forest  15 

gradually  became  milder,  the  edge  of  the  conti- 
nental ice  sheet  slowly  melted,  forming  immense 
rivers  and  lakes.  As  the  land  was  laid  bare,  vege- 
tation recovered  the  lost  territory  step  by  step.  At 
first,  the  character  of  the  land  recently  left  by  the 
ice  was  undoubtedly  very  much  like  what  we  find 
to-day  in  the  Barren  Grounds,  the  solitary  regions 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  British  dominions. 
There  we  find  vast  areas  covered  principally  with 
mosses  belonging  to  the  genus  Sphagnum,  inter- 
spersed with  a  few  sedges  and  numerous  spe- 
cies of  the  heath  family.  It  is  a  vegetation  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  peat  bogs  found  occasionally 
in  the  Northern  States.  These  moss  prairies  or 
tundras  were  gradually  supplanted  by  the  advance- 
guard  of  the  forest :  spruces  and  poplars,  that 
came  slowly  marching  up  from  the  south  and  are, 
in  all  probability,  continuing  their  advance  to  this 
day.  These  most  arctic  of  American  trees  were 
followed  by  the  pines,  and  these  again  by  the 
more  southern  species  of  hardwood,  maples,  oak, 
beeches,  and  the  like.  While  thus  the  forest  as  a 
whole  was  advancing  northward,  the  various  spe- 
cies fought  among  themselves  for  each  locality. 
This  fight  continues  to  the  present  day,  and  is 
changing  the  distribution  of  species  from  century 
to  century.  It  is  very  probable,  for  instance,  that 
both  north  and  south  the  hardwoods  are  gaining 
ground  at  the  expense  of  the  pines  and  spruces. 
The  hemlock  does  not  reproduce  itself  in  a  portion 
of  Wisconsin,  and  therefore  will  die  out  there 


1 6     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

when  the  present  generation  of  trees  has  run  its 
course,  unless  man  interferes.  The  red  and  black 
oaks  are  gradually  supplanting  the  white  oaks  in 
many  parts  of  the  country. 

We  have  repeatedly  used  the  terms  warfare  and 
fighting  for  the  competition  of  trees  among  them- 
selves, and  it  is  time  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of 
how  such  warfare  is  going  on.  Trees  have  no 
claws  and  teeth  with  which  they  can  attack  each 
other  as  animals  do,  but  they  can  fight,  neverthe- 
less, and  the  numbers  of  the  dead  and  crippled  in 
these  battles  are  tremendous. 

There  are  two  things  which  every  tree  needs,  or 
it  must  die  :  moisture  for  its  roots,  to  carry  water 
containing  in  solution  various  mineral  salts  to  all 
parts  of  its  body ,  and  light  to  enable  the  leaves 
to  assimilate  the  material  so  furnished,  and  build 
up  the  various  vegetable  tissues  making  up  the 
tree.  Each  kind  of  tree,  by  reason  of  its  specific 
characteristics,  requires  these  two  things  in  vary- 
ing proportions.  For  each  species  there  is  a  mini- 
mum of  light,  and  the  accompanying  warmth,  and 
also  a  maximum  ;  exceeding  these  limits,  suffering 
begins.  The  same  holds  true  of  moisture,  as  well 
as  some  other  requisites.  For  instance,  most  trees 
will  die  if  their  roots  are  immersed  in  water  for  a 
large  part  of  the  growing  season.  But  a  few,  like 
the  black  ash  or  bald  cypress,  will  grow  lustily  on 
swamps  wet  the  year  through.  They  have  a  very 
high  moisture  maximum.  On  the  other  hand, 
these  species  would  not  flourish  on  a  dry,  rocky 


The  North  American  Forest  17 

ridge.  The  conditions  there  would  be  below  their 
moisture  minimum  ;  while  a  black  spruce,  for  in- 
stance, will  grow  in  a  Northern  Wisconsin  swamp 
no  less  than  on  a  dry  rock  in  the  Adirondacks,  be- 
cause it  is  adapted  to  a  very  large  range  of  moisture 
conditions. 

As  to  light,  dendrologists  have  divided  trees  into 
two  classes,  light-loving  and  shade-enduring  species. 
The  two  classes,  however,  connect  by  imperceptible 
transitions.  Generally  speaking,  the  needs  of  a  tree 
as  regards  light  can  be  told  by  the  character  of  the 
shade  its  own  crown  makes.  The  oaks,  for  instance, 
need  much  light,  and  an  oak  sapling  that  stands  in  a 
dark,  shady  place  will  never  grow  to  be  a  good-sized, 
healthy  tree.  Now,  everybody  must  be  struck  with 
the  light  character  of  an  oak  grove,  where  the  sun 
rays  everywhere  penetrate  to  the  ground  and 
paint  fantastic  figures  on  the  vigorous  growth  of 
grass  and  herbage.  A  maple  grove  is  much  darker, 
and  if  you  enter  a  wood  composed  of  beeches  or 
hemlock,  you  find  yourself  in  almost  nocturnal  twi- 
light, where  no  ray  of  the  sun  succeeds  in  reaching 
the  ground.  The  need  of  light  for  the  light-loving 
trees  is  particularly  great  in  their  youth  ;  while  on 
the  other  hand,  the  seedlings  of  the  shade-enduring 
trees  often  die  when  they  are  exposed  to  too  bright 
sunshine.  If  the  seed  of  a  light-loving  tree  should 
fall  under  the  crowns  of  a  group  of  beeches,  it 
would  have  very  little  prospect  of  growth,  while 
the  young  beeches  would  grow  lustily.  Here  is 
one  of  the  ways  in  which  species  of  trees  carry  on 


1 8     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

their  warfare.  Suppose  that  on  a  tract  of  land 
covered  with  oak,  birches,  or  other  light-lovers, 
the  seed  of  beech,  maple,  or  other  shade-endurers 
should  be  deposited.  The  light  coming  through 
the  crowns  of  the  established  species  would  be 
sufficient  to  start  the  young  invaders  into  vigorous 
growth ;  the  seedlings  would  gradually  develop 
into  trees,  each  forming  its  usual  dense  crown  and 
casting  a  deep  shade  on  the  ground  under  it.  By 
and  by  they  will  distribute  their  seeds,  some  of 
which  will  grow  into  trees,  and  it  will  make  no 
difference  to  them  whether  they  are  rooted  under 
their  parent  species  or  under  the  neighboring  oaks. 
In  either  case,  the  light  conditions  are  favorable. 
But  with  the  seeds  cast  by  the  oaks  things  are  dif- 
ferent. If  they  sprout  under  one  of  their  parent 
species  they  will  grow.  But  those  that  come  to  lie 
under  the  beeches  do  not  find  light  enough,  and 
•either  do  not  sprout  at  all,  or  soon  languish  and  die. 
By  and  by  some  of  the  old  oaks  will  perish,  from 
accident  or  age.  In  the  new  growth  the  beeches 
already  have  the  majority,  and  the  percentage  in 
their  favor  is  constantly  increasing.  After  some 
centuries  the  oaks  will  have  disappeared,  and  in 
place  of  the  sunlit  oak  grove  there  now  stands 
,a  cool,  shady  beech  wood.  The  war  has  resulted 
:in  victory  for  the  invader.  Of  course,  the  light 
.conditions  are  not  the  only  factors  to  decide  the 
struggle,  else  the  light-loving  trees  would  long  ago 
have  become  extinct.  It  might  happen,  for  in- 
stance, that  when  the  seeds  of  the  shade-enduring 


The  North  American  Forest  19 

species  reached  the  place,  they  found  the  light  con- 
ditions favorable  all  over  the  locality,  but  in  one 
half  of  it  the  soil  or  the  moisture  relations  were 
such  that  the  newcomers  could  not  endure  it. 
Then  the  result  of  the  war  would  be,  that  on  one 
half  of  the  tract  the  beeches  have  superseded  the 
oaks,  while  on  the  other  the  oaks  remain  in  un- 
diminished  vigor.  The  conditions  affecting  the 
outcome  are  rarely  so  simple  as  we  have  here  as- 
sumed for  the  sake  of  clearness.  Ordinarily,  they 
are  exceedingly  complex,  so  that  it  becomes  very 
difficult  to  trace  them.  But  a  knowledge  of  these 
processes  is  necessary  for  the  skilful  pursuit  of  sil- 
viculture. One  important  practical  rule  we  may 
mention  here,  which  is  based  on  this  observation 
that  the  species  of  tree  growing  in  any  given  place 
is  not  always  directly  regulated  by  the  natural  cir- 
cumstances of  the  locality,  but  influenced  by  the 
competition  of  other  species.  It  is  this  :  The  fact 
that  in  any  region  a  species  is  never  found  except  in 
places  of  some  special  character,  as  in  swamps,  or 
on  sandy  soil,  does  not  prove  that  it  will  not  flour- 
ish elsewhere.  It  may  have  been  driven  into  these 
retreats  by  its  competitors,  and  would  really  much 
prefer  the  better  places  from  which  it  has  been  ex- 
cluded by  them.  This  may  often  be  of  importance 
in  silviculture,  when  it  is  desired  to  grow  a  tree 
outside  of  its  apparent  favorite  habitat. 

Just  as  each  species  competes  with  every  other 
species  for  the  most  favorable  places,  so  every  in- 
dividual tree  competes  with  every  other,  whether 


20     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

of  its  own  kind  or  a  different  species.  Again,  the 
main  objects  of  the  struggle  are  light  and  moisture. 
To  gain  these  necessaries,  each  tree  adapts  its 
manner  of  growth,  the  shape  of  its  trunk,  branches, 
roots,  and  leaves  in  a  most  marvellous  manner. 
Everybody  must  have  noticed  that  no  tree  is  the 
exact  counterpart  of  another  of  the  same  species. 
Aside  from  differences  in  age  and  size,  each  tree 
has  a  different  way  of  disposing  its  branches, 
twigs,  and  leaves.  This  difference  is  invariably 
exactly  of  the  kind  which  is  most  favorable  to  the 
growth  of  the  tree  under  the  particular  local  cir- 
cumstances among  which  it  must  develop.  As  a 
tree  cannot  run  away,  it  has  to  make  the  best  it 
can  out  of  the  situation  in  which  it  finds  itself  as 
a  seedling.  Sometimes  the  devices  the  tree  hits 
upon  in  difficulties  are  absolutely  startling.  Here 
is  an  illustration  :  At  Devil's  Lake,  Wisconsin,  a 
pine  tree  is  standing  on  the  side  of  the  almost 
vertical  quartzite  rocks  of  the  locality.  It  had 
originally  sprouted  in  a  cleft  where  there  is  hardly 
a  shovelful  of  soil.  The  tree  is  now  about  six 
inches  in  diameter.  From  its  little  cleft,  it  sends 
out  a  single  root,  as  thick  as  the  trunk,  along  a 
narrow  ledge,  on  which  there  is  practically  no  soil 
at  all.  On  the  surface  of  this  ledge,  lying  on  the 
exceedingly  hard  rock,  this  root  runs  along,  almost 
horizontally,  for  twenty-six  feet,  where  it  finds  an 
accumulation  of  soil  and  enters  the  ground. 

While  there  are  infinite  variations  of  form  grow- 
ing out  of   this  struggle  for  moisture  and  light, 


The  North  American  Forest  21 

there  are  a  few  general  rules  of  practical  impor- 
tance to  the  forester.  A  tree  standing  in  the  open, 
where  the  light  strikes  its  crown  from  all  sides, 
forms  a  round,  symmetrical  top,  with  the  lowest 
branches  not  very  far  above  the  ground.  Or  if  it 
is  of  the  kind  that  has  a  pyramidal  growth,  like  the 
spruces  and  most  other  coniferous  trees,  it  may  be 
clothed  with  living  branches  to  the  very  earth.  If 
the  same  kind  of  tree  should  grow  in  a  place  where 
it  gets  full  sunlight  from  some  directions,  while 
other  sides  are  shaded,  the  branches  will  all,  or 
nearly  all,  grow  towards  the  light,  thus  forming 
.asymmetrical  crowns.  Now  suppose  that  a  tree  of 
the  same  species  should  find  itself  standing  in  a 
dense  clump  of  trees,  where  the  light  cannot  reach 
it  from  any  side.  Then  its  only  salvation  is  to 
reach  the  light  which  comes  from  above.  Conse- 
quently it  sends  out  few  and  small  lateral  branches, 
but  puts  all  its  energy  into  height  growth,  until  it 
has  grown  above  the  shade  cast  by  the  surround- 
ing trees.  This  done,  it  begins  to  spread  its  leafy 
branches  in  all  directions,  to  absorb  as  much  of  the 
loved  sunlight  as  possible.  Where  a  number  of 
trees  grow  closely  together,  so  as  to  mutually  hin- 
der the  light  from  reaching  their  leaves,  a  race  for 
the  sun  ensues  between  them,  in  which  those  are 
victorious  which  by  reason  of  their  more  ener- 
getic height  growth  first  show  their  tops  above 
the  others.  Then  these  begin  to  spread  their 
side  limbs,  thereby  throwing  their  rivals  into 
ever  denser  shade,  and  the  latter  cease  to  grow 


22     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

vigorously,  and  in  course  of  time  may  even  die.  If 
they  are  of  the  shade-enduring  kind,  they  have,  of 
course,  a  better  chance  to  survive  than  if  they  were 
light-lovers.  In  such  a  case  they  may  even  suc- 
ceed, after  a  while,  in  their  turn,  in  overtopping  the 
first  victor,  because  that  ceased  to  grow  much  in 
height  when  the  spreading  of  the  branches  began. 
But  generally  the  tree  which  has  once  been  over- 
topped by  its  neighbor  never  grows  into  a  very 
large  and  vigorous  specimen,  but  joins  the  ranks 
of  the  suppressed,  which  the  skilful  forester  cuts 
out  sooner  or  later  to  make  room  for  their  betters. 

Not  only  do  whole  trees  languish  and  die  when 
they  are  overshadowed  by  others,  but  every  branch 
shares  the  same  fate  if  at  any  period  of  its  life  it  is 
deprived  of  the  free  access  of  light,  either  by  other 
branches  of  its  own  tree,  or  by  neighboring  trees. 
Where  the  trees  stand  close  together,  this  happens 
to  all  the  lower  branches,  which  usually  die  and 
fall  off  during  the  first  few  years  of  their  lives,  so 
that  not  only  are  few  side  branches  produced,  but 
what  few  there  are  soon  disappear  again.  Trees 
so  grown  consequently  show  tall  trunks  with  only 
a  few  branches  towards  the  top. 

Now  it  happens  that  the  quality  of  lumber  cut 
from  trees  with  tall  stems  is  very  much  better  than 
that  produced  by  trees  where  the  branches  are 
many  and  reach  far  down  the  trunk,  for  every 
branch  means  a  knot  in  the  lumber.  Conse- 
quently the  forester  who  desires  good  lumber 
aims  to  make  his  trees  tall  and  with  as  few 


The  North  American  Forest  23 

branches  as  possible   on  the  lower   part    of   their 
trunks. 

When  the  tree  has  succeeded  in  growing  above 
the  heads  of  competitors  and  begins  to  spread  its 
crown,  it  changes  its  economy  in  various  ways. 
For  one  thing,  as  it  is  now  enabled  to  provide  itself 
with  more  leaves,  it  has  a  chance  to  produce  greater 
amounts  of  wood  :  for  each  leaf  is  a  laboratory 
where  the  material  is  distilled  out  of  which  wood 
and  other  vegetable  tissue  are  formed.  This  in- 
creased formation  of  wood  results  in  an  increase  of 
the  diameter  of  the  trunk,  while  the  height  growth 
is  no  longer  as  rapid  as  before.  At  the  same  time, 
the  character  of  the  wood  changes,  especially  in 
those  trees  which  have  two  kinds  of  wood,  an  inner 
core  of  heart-wood,  and  a  surrounding  layer  of  sap- 
wood.  This  is  the  case  with  most  of  our  lumber- 
producing  trees.  The  greater  the  diameter  of  such 
a  tree  trunk,  the  smaller  the  proportion  of  sap-wood, 
while  a  tall  tree  of  very  small  diameter  is  nearly  all- 
sap-wood.  As  heart-wood  is  much  more  valuable: 
for  timber  purposes,  it  follows  that  to  make  his  trees; 
most  valuable  the  forester  allows  them  to  follow  up 
the  period  of  rapid  height  growth  by  a  period  of 
prevalent  diameter  increase.  In  other  words,  he 
now  cuts  away  the  weaker,  half-suppressed  trees,  so 
that  the  remaining  ones  get  the  benefit  of  an  open 
stand.  Where  this  happens  naturally  in  the  wilder- 
ness, by  one  cause  or  the  other,  the  result  is,  of 
course,  the  same  as  where  the  new  condition  is  pro- 
duced artificially.  The  forester's  art  in  silviculture 


24     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

never  amounts  to  anything  more  than  giving  special 
direction  to  the  processes  initiated  by  nature. 

One  of  the  principal  weapons  which  trees  have  in 
the  propagation  of  their  species  is  the  production 
of  immense  quantities  of  seed,  which  are  spread 
broadcast,  trusting  to  accident  that  some  will  find 
a  favorable  spot  to  sprout  and  grow  into  a  new  tree. 
Evidently,  the. more  seeds  are  sown,  the  greater  is 
the  probability  that  some  of  them  will  find  such  a 
spot.  Therefore  trees  that  are  very  fertile  have  an 
advantage  over  trees  which  produce  a  less  quantity. 
But  no  matter  whether  few  or  many  seeds  are  pro- 
duced, a  very  small  percentage  ever  succeed  in  be- 
coming trees.  In  fact,  it  happens  not  rarely  that  of 
all  the  seeds  scattered  over  the  ground  in  any  given 
year  not  a  single  one  ever  reaches  the  state  of  a 
seedling  tree.  Those  who  have  never  observed 
these  relations  are  apt  to  assume  that  in  a  given 
tract  of  woodland,  growing  healthily  under  undis- 
turbed natural  conditions,  one  will  be  able  to  find 
trees  of  all  ages,  from  the  patriarch  of  several  cen- 
turies down  to  the  little  seedling  just  showing  the 
tip  of  its  stem  above  the  litter  on  the  forest  floor. 
But  such  conditions  are  rather  rare,  and  the  reason 
for  that  is  not  very  hard  to  find.  In  the  first  place, 
the  trees  do  not  bear  seed  every  year.  Varying 
according  to  species  and  perhaps  to  habitat  and 
other  conditions,  what  is  known  as  a  seed  year  oc- 
curs but  once  in  three,  four,  or  five  years,  as  the 
case  may  be.  In  such  a  year,  every  tree  of  the 
species,  old  enough  to  bear  fruit  at  all,  is  full  of 


The  North  American  Forest  25 

them,  while  in  other  years  only  here  and  there  a 
few  are  ripening.  Consequently  it  is  only  in  seed 
years  that  there  is  much  hope  for  any  seeds  to  find 
a  favorable  sprouting  place.  But  even  then  it  may 
happen  that  not  one  of  them  has  such  luck.  The 
condition  of  the  ground  has  much  to  do  with  this. 
It  may  be  that  by  one  cause  or  other,  as,  for  in- 
stance, too  much  moisture  or  too  great  dryness,  it 
has  become  unfavorable  to  the  seedlings,  either  by 
reason  of  its  chemical  or  mechanical  condition.  The 
older  trees  are  little  affected  by  the  change,  for 
they  send  their  roots  deeply  into  the  subsoil  and  the 
character  of  the  surface  layer  is  of  relatively  little 
importance  to  them.  But  the  seedling  depends  for 
its  life  upon  the  condition  it  finds  in  this  top-soil. 
More  often  the  ground  is  shaded  too  much  either 
by  the  crowns  of  the  old  trees  themselves  or  by  the 
undergrowth,  which  in  turn  may  consist  of  former 
generations  of  young  trees  of  the  same  species  or 
of  shrubs  belonging  to  entirely  different  kinds  of 
plants.  In  still  other  cases  the  ground  may  have 
been  invaded  by  grasses  or  herbs,  forming  a  matted 
tangle  of  roots  and  stems  which  make  it  difficult  for 
the  tree  seeds  to  sprout.  Under  any  of  these  and 
similar  conditions  long  periods  may  elapse  during 
which  no  reproduction  of  trees  takes  place,  and  the 
supply  of  many  seed  years  may  go  to  waste.  But 
sooner  or  later  an  opportunity  will  come  ;  and  the 
trees  are  always  on  the  lookout  to  take  advantage 
of  accidents.  One  of  the  commonest  of  such  acci- 
dents is  the  death  and  fall  of  one  of  the  giants  of 


26     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  forest.  The  prostrate  trunk  for  a  number  of 
years  encumbers  the  ground,  but  it  has  torn  a  wide 
breach  into  the  leafy  canopy  on  top,  through  which 
the  bright  sunlight  enters  the  shady  depth  of  the 
wood.  Gradually  the  fallen  tree  decays,  helped  in 
this  process  by  manifold  fungi  and  other  crypto- 
gamic  plants.  After  a  while  all  that  remains  of 
what  was  once  a  tree  is  a  heap  of  rich  brown  vege- 
table mould.  As  yet  this  is  no  place  for  a  tree. 
Only  mosses,  ferns,  and  a  few  flowering  plants 
which  like  to  feed  on  organic  matter  and  are  known 
to  science  as  saprophytes,  or  decay  plants,  find  a 
congenial  home  here.  But  gradually,  by  various 
processes,  among  which  the  burrowing  of  animals 
plays  no  small  part,  the  vegetable  mould  is  mixed 
with  the  underlying  earth,  and  true  soil  formed. 
Now  is  the  time  for  the  tree  seeds,  but  if  they  do 
not  hasten  to  occupy  the  spot,  a  host  of  other  plants, 
herbs,  grasses,  and  shrubs  are  lying  in  wait  to  get 
themselves  established  and  preempt  the  ground. 
Of  course,  during  the  whole  time  while  only  fungi, 
mosses,  ferns,  and  other  specially  adapted  plants 
could  live  in  the  decaying  mass,  seeds  of  other 
species  continued  to  arrive  on  the  spot,  but  found 
it  impossible  to  germinate.  But  now  this  has  be- 
come possible  for  them,  and  intense  rivalry  between 
them  follows.  In  this,  if  luck  is  with  it,  a  young  tree 
may  come  off  victorious  and  in  course  of  time  de- 
velop into  another  giant  like  the  fallen  one  on 
whose  grave  it  grows. 

This    is   but  one    instance    where    an  accident 


The  North  American  Forest  27 

afforded  opportunity  for  reproduction  of  trees  in  a 
wood  otherwise  unfavorable  to  young  growth.  Of 
course  the  variety  of  circumstances  making  such 
opportunities  is  infinite.  Often  it  happens  in  the 
primeval  wilderness  that  whole  bodies  of  trees  are 
overthrown  by  violent  winds,  and  then  the  condi- 
tions brought  about  by  the  fall  of  a  single  tree  are 
repeated  on  a  larger  scale.  This  matter  of  wind- 
falls is  perhaps  not  quite  understood  by  the  aver- 
age layman.  Generally  speaking,  trees  adapt  their 
manner  of  growth  so  as  to  withstand  the  violence 
of  all  winds  to  which  they  are  likely  to  be  exposed. 
The  means  by  which  they  increase  their  power  of 
resistance  to  storms  are  various.  One  of  these  is 
the  elasticity  of  their  fibres,  even  of  the  trunk,  by 
virtue  of  which  they  bend  before  the  wind,  but  im- 
mediately resume  the  upright  position  when  the 
blast  ceases.  Another  means  of  protection  is  a 
root  system  going  very  deeply  into  the  ground, 
combined  with  great  strength  of  the  trunk.  Un- 
less the  latter  quality  were  added,  a  strong  wind 
might  not  be  able  to  uproot  the  tree  as  it  would  a 
shallow-rooted  one,  but  the  very  strength  and  un- 
yielding quality  of  the  root  would  increase  the 
danger  of  the  trunk  being  broken  off.  Still  another 
useful  device  is  the  very  common  thickening  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  bole  just  at  the  place  where  the 
greatest  strain  is  suffered  when  the  tree  is  bent. 
Now,  within  the  limits  set  by  the  characteristics  of 
each  species,  each  individual  tree  develops  these 
means  of  defence  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  accord- 


28     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

ing  to  the  measure  of  its  exposure  ;  that  is,  a  tree 
growing  in  a  place  where  strong  winds  are  con- 
stantly blowing,  as  on  the  crest  of  a  high  mountain, 
develops  as  deep  and  stout  a  root,  and  strengthens 
its  other  wind  defences  just  as  much  as  its  specific 
nature  will  permit.  On  the  other  hand,  a  tree 
growing  in  a  protected  ravine  does  not  waste  energy 
on  such  useless  objects,  but  puts  it  into  other  forms 
of  life  activity.  The  trees  in  the  midst  of  a  com- 
pact forest  protect  each  other,  and  consequently 
develop  relatively  shallow  root  systems.  Only 
those  at  the  edge  of  the  wood,  where  the  wind  can 
reach  them  better,  send  their  roots  down  deeply. 
Now  suppose  that,  either  by  the  hand  of  man  or 
natural  causes,  an  opening  is  made  in  the  forest,  so 
that  individuals  which  heretofore  stood  surrounded 
by  trees  are  now  exposed  to  the  wind  on  one  or 
more  sides.  The  trees  now  forming  the  edge  of 
the  wood  will  at  once  proceed  to  strengthen  their 
root  systems  and  thicken  their  boles,  until  they  are 
as  well  prepared  to  resist  the  violence  of  the  wind 
as  if  they  had  grown  in  an  exposed  situation  from 
the  beginning.  But  this  process  takes  a  number 
of  years,  and  in  the  meantime  they  are  in  constant 
danger  of  being  uprooted  or  broken  off.  Undoubt- 
edly the  majority  of  disastrous  windfalls  are  in 
situations  like  the  one  described,  where  the  trees 
had  not  yet  become  adapted  to  new  conditions. 
But  it  may  happen,  of  course,  that  a  storm  of  un- 
usual violence  overthrows  trees  which  had  bravely 
withstood  all  ordinary  tempests.  The  trees  some- 


The  North  American  Forest  29 

times  left  standing  by  settlers  on  their  clearings 
nearly  always  succumb  to  the  wind  sooner  or  later. 
Some  species,  which  have  shallow  roots  under  the 
best  conditions,  are  more  liable  to  windfalls  than 
others.  Such  are,  for  instance,  the  basswood  (Tilia, 
Americana)  and  the  hemlock  (Tsuga  canadensis). 
Others,  like  the  various  walnuts  and  hickories,  de- 
velop deep  and  stout  tap  roots  even  in  the  most 
sheltered  situations,  and  consequently  suffer  little 
from  this  particular  danger.  Windfalls  are  a  great 
detriment  to  the  American  forests.  In  addition  to 
the  direct  damage,  the  tangle  of  drying  branches 
and  twigs  affords  one  of  the  best  starting-points  for 
the  fires  of  which  we  will  have  much  more  to  say 
later  on.  The  overturned  trees  are  at  once  at- 
tacked by  a  host  of  insects  and  fungi  which  some- 
times spread  upon  the  adjacent  sound  timber  and 
injure  it. 

To  return  to  the  opportunities  which  tree  seeds 
find  for  sprouting,  such  as  are  small  and  perhaps 
provided  with  wings,  or  other  devices  enabling  them 
to  float  for  a  while  in  the  wind,  have  evidently  a 
better  chance  than  heavy  seeds  which  cannot  fall 
far  from  the  parent  stem.  To  the  former  class  be- 
long, among  others,  the  seeds  of  poplars  and 
birches,  while  conspicuous  in  the  latter  are  the  oaks 
and  hickories.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  here 
even  a  few  of  the  wonderful  devices  by  which 
many  seeds  acquire  this  useful  power  to  travel. 
How  much  advantage  a  tree  derives  from  such 
power  of  its  seeds  can  be  seen  conspicuously  in  the 


30     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

case  of  the  large  areas  in  the  Great  Lake  region 
which  have  been  deprived  of  their  former  pine 
growth  by  the  lumberman's  axe  and  the  fire.  On 
these  "  slashings  "  the  first  trees  which  appear  to 
provide  a  new  forest  growth  are  almost  invariably 
poplars,  especially  the  kind  known  as  trembling 
aspen,  and  the  white  birches.  These  have  es- 
pecially effective  apparatuses  which  enable  their 
seeds  to  travel  long  distances.  The  pines,  of  which 
there  are  usually  quite  a  number  left  on  these 
"  slashings,"  being  trees  that  were  too  small  for  the 
lumberman,  or  of  defective  timber,  have  seeds 
which  can  be  carried  by  the  wind  but  a  few  rods  at 
best.  Consequently  they  cannot  at  once  cover  the 
whole  area,  the  way  the  aspens  do.  But  this  instance 
also  points  the  moral  that  the  race  is  not  always  to 
the  swift.  Though  the  pines  do  not  travel  far,  their 
little  seedlings  come  up  in  numbers  within  a  few 
rods  about  each  seed  tree.  The  growth  of  aspen, 
as  well  as  bracken,  grass,  brambles,  and  other  vege- 
tation invading  these  areas,  unless  it  gets  to  be  too 
dense  a  tangle,  is  of  advantage  rather  than  other- 
wise to  them,  for  it  keeps  off  some  of  the  scorching 
sunshine  against  which  pine  seedlings  are  rather 
sensitive.  The  aspen  grows  rapidly  into  saplings 
six  and  more  feet  high.  The  pines,  for  the  first 
few  years,  grow  but  a  few  inches.  Then  they  be- 
gin to  shoot  upwards,  and  by  the  time  they  are 
about  fifteen  years  old,  their  tops  begin  to  show 
above  those  of  the  aspen,  that  are  now  ten  to  fif- 
teen feet  high.  Five  years  more,  and  the  pines  are 


The  North  American  Forest  31 

throwing  the  aspen  into  shade  and  hindering  their 
growth  ;  another  decade,  and  most  of  the  aspens 
have  died  out  because,  being  light-lovers,  they 
could  not  thrive  in  the  shade  of  the  pine,  which  has 
now  recovered  the  ground  it  lost  thirty  years  ago. 
An  exactly  similar  alternation  of  trees  can  be  ob^ 
served  in  New  York  and  New  England,  with  the 
exception  that  there  spruces  usually  play  the  part 
taken  by  pines  in  the  Lake  region.  Undoubtedly 
other  sections  of  the  country  might  furnish  parallel 
cases  where  trees  have  an  advantage  at  the  start 
which  they  lose  later  on  in  the  rivalry  with  other 
species. 

Attentive  readers  must  have  observed  that  the 
dangers  threatening  a  tree  are  by  no  means  over 
when  the  seed  has  found  a  favorable  locality  and 
developed  into  a  seedling.  Just  as  very  few  seeds 
ever  sprout  at  all,  so  very  few  infant  trees  ever 
reach  old  age.  A  very  large  old  tree  takes  up  a 
hundred  times  as  much  room  as  a  young  sapling. 
This  room  must  be  provided  by  killing  off  the 
weaker  individuals  competing  for  it.  A  wood  com- 
posed mainly  of  very  old  trees  will  show  far  fewer 
individuals  to  the  acre  than  one  stocked  with  young 
ones.  But  the  crown  canopy  may  be  just  as  dense, 
and  the  amount  of  timber  contained  in  it  is  apt  to 
be  far  higher. 

It  would  require  a  volume  by  itself  to  describe 
in  detail  the  manifold  conditions  under  which  the 
warfare  of  the  forest  is  carried  on.  We  have,  al- 
most at  random,  picked  out  a  few  of  the  phases 


32     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

which  influence  its  progress.  These  illustrations 
were  designed  to  impress  upon  the  reader  the  fact 
that  a  forest,  left  to  the  undisturbed  action  of 
natural  forces,  does  not  remain  unchanged  from 
century  to  century,  but  is  different  to-day  from 
what  it  was  yesterday,  and  will  be  still  different  to- 
morrow. As  the  individual  tree  lives  through 
various  life  stages,  from  infancy  to  old  age,  so  the 
forest  as  a  whole  matures  and  grows  old.  But 
while  the  individual,  when  its  limit  of  age  is 
reached,  must  die,  the  forest  has  the  power  of  con- 
stantly  regenerating  itself,  so  that  its  continuity 
may  remain  unbroken  for  countless  ages.  There 
are,  to  be  sure,  certain  slow  secular  changes  which 
may  in  the  long  run  destroy  a  forest  altogether. 
Thus  the  forests  growing  in  the  northern  half  of 
our  continent  in  tertiary  ages  were  destroyed  by 
the  long  glacial  winter.  But  that  is  a  matter  of 
many  thousands  of  years.  Humanly  speaking, 
there  is  no  reason  why  a  forest,  taking  its  vast  ex- 
tent as  a  whole,  should  not  live  forever. 

Another  important  principle  we  have  tried  to 
impress  by  our  cursory  observations  on  the  inner 
life  of  a  forest :  Multifarious  and  bewildering  as 
the  variety  of  its  life  phases  is,  the  forest  and  the 
changes  constantly  going  on  in  it  are  not  the  dis- 
orderly results  of  accident.  In  their  astonishing 
complexity  they  are  yet  dependent  on  a  few  simple 
laws  of  nature.  To  the  degree  in  which  we  under- 
stand these  and  their  workings,  to  that  degree  we 
will  be  able  to  control  their  results.  As  we  pro- 


The  North  American  Forest  33 

ceed  in  the  consideration  of  the  subject-matter  of 
this  volume,  we  will  have  frequent  occasion  to  treat 
of  the  forest  as  subject,  not  to  natural  forces,  but 
to  control  by  the  will  of  man,  who  may  destroy, 
maintain,  or  regenerate  it  as  suits  his  purposes.  To 
understand  clearly  how  such  control  is  possible, 
we  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  done,  not  by  sus- 
pending or  reversing  the  action  of  the  processes  of 
nature,  but  by  guiding  and  giving  special  directions 
to  them. 

Such  guidance  and  control  are  possible  only  to 
men  who  have  a  knowledge  of  those  natural  pro- 
cesses. Not  as  if  anybody  now  possessed  or  was 
ever  likely  to  possess  such  knowledge  perfectly. 
But  even  an  imperfect  knowledge  gives  us  a  means 
of  exercising  some  influence.  It  is  only  within  a 
relatively  short  time  that  a  partial  understanding  of 
the  life  processes  of  a  forest  has  been  accomplished 
anywhere,  and  in  America  we  are  still  far  from 
knowing  as  much  of  our  forests  as  the  Europeans 
know  of  theirs.  During  the  greater  part  of  our 
history,  we  were  very  far  from  exercising  an  im- 
portant influence  on  our  forests.  On  the  contrary, 
our  history  as  a  nation  was  far  more  intensely  in- 
fluenced and  largely  determined  by  the  primeval 
woods.  The  manner  of  this  influence  by  the  forest 
on  our  national  history  shall  be  the  theme  of  our 
next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    FOREST    AND    MAN 

THE  bold  navigators  of  the  sixteenth  century 
who  gradually  made  the  Atlantic  coasts  of 
our  continent  known  to  Europe  had  before  their 
eyes  hardly  anything  but  the  hope  of  discovering 
in  the  newly  found  countries  stores  of  precious 
minerals.  To  the  wealth  of  other  resources  they 
were  almost  entirely  blind.  But  hardly  had  perma- 
nent settlements  been  established  on  the  continent 
when  the  value  of  the  forest  became  apparent  both 
to  the  settlers  and  the  home  government.  From 
a  very  early  period,  the  British  rulers  had  their 
attention  directed  to  the  management  of  the  forests, 
particularly  in  the  northern  colonies,  and  the  vari- 
ous disputes  growing  out  of  the  attempts  to  regu- 
late the  exploitation  of  the  woods  were  one  of  the 
causes  that  contributed  to  the  estrangement  of  the 
colonists  from  the  mother  country. 

To  understand  the  attitudes  of  the  parties  to 
these  disputes  it  is  necessary  to  recall  the  views 
then  held  as  to  the  proper  relations  of  colonies  to 
their  central  government.  Nothing  was  farther 
from  the  minds  of  the  authorities  who  promoted 
the  establishment  of  colonies  than  a  desire  that  the 

34 


The  Forest  and  Man  35 

latter  should  grow  up  into  flourishing  communities, 
able  to  produce  enough  for  their  own  independent 
support.  The  home  governments  merely  wished 
to  get  from  the  colonists  certain  commodities  which 
could  not  be  produced  at  home  and  which  would 
otherwise  have  to  be  purchased  in  foreign  countries. 
Thus,  in  accordance  with  this  theory,  Virginia  and 
other  Southern  colonies  were  to  supply  England 
with  tobacco  and  indigo  ;  the  middle  colonies  were 
to  furnish  peltry.  New  England  was  long  con- 
sidered the  most  useless  of  all  "  His  Majesty's 
plantations,"  for  most  of  its  natural  products 
were  of  the  kind  that  must  come  into  competition 
with  the  products  of  Great  Britain  herself.  But  it 
was  hoped  that  its  forests  might  furnish  the  ship- 
ping of  England  with  those  great  necessities  classed 
under  the  name  of  naval  stores  :  ship  timber, 
masts,  spars,  tar,  pitch,  and  the  like. 

Since  English  navigation  had  increased  so  much, 
in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  the  supply  of  these  stores 
had  been  a  source  of  constant  and  anxious  care  to 
the  government.  The  British  Isles  themselves  could 
produce  practically  none  of  it.  Therefore  it  had  to 
be  procured  elsewhere,  and  the  principal  sources 
were  Norway  and  "  the  East  Country,"  meaning 
the  Baltic  provinces.  This  was  considered  a  very 
unfortunate  circumstance,  first  because  British  ex- 
ports to  those  countries  were  small  and  most  of  the 
stores  purchased  had  to  be  paid  for  in  bullion, 
but  particularly  because  it  made  England  depend- 
ent on  the  good  will  of  foreign  governments.  Sup- 


36     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

pose  that  in  time  of  war  those  governments  should 
prohibit  the  export  of  such  stores,  what  would  be- 
come of  British  shipping,  both  naval  and  mercantile  ? 
For  these  reasons  the  government  tried  to  in- 
duce the  New  England  colonists  to  quit  farming, 
and  especially  the  catching  of  sea  fish  and  the  con- 
siderable foreign  commerce  built  thereon,  and  go 
to  producing  naval  stores.  The  colonists  would 
have  been  ready  enough  to  do  so,  though  at  first 
they  knew  nothing  about  the  business  and  pro- 
duced inferior  qualities  of  tar  and  pitch,  but  they 
found  it  did  not  pay  to  sell  their  goods  in  England, 
notwithstanding  a  bounty  offered  by  the  govern- 
ment. A  British  vessel  could  make  three  trips  to 
the  Baltic  or  five  to  Norway  during  the  time  con- 
sumed by  one  voyage  to  New  England.  Conse- 
quently the  cost  of  transportation  made  the  sale  of 
such  goods  in  England  unremunerative.  But  the 
colonists  soon  drove  quite  a  lively  trade  in  ship 
timber  and  masts,  as  well  as  other  lumber,  with  the 
West  Indies,  and  even  with  Portugal  and  Spain,  to 
the  horror  of  the  British  officials,  who  became  in- 
dignant at  the  wickedness  of  people  supplying  for- 
eigners with  war  material.  Partly  on  account  of  the 
efforts  of  the  government  and  partly  through  natu- 
ral advantages  and  native  enterprise,  the  lumber 
trade  soon  became  a  principal  source  of  New  Eng- 
land prosperity.  As  early  as  1663,  a  sawmill  was 
erected  on  Salmon  Falls  River  in  New  Hampshire, 
and  in  1 706  no  less  than  seventy  were  running  on 
the  Piscataqua. 


The  Forest  and  Man  37 

This,  however,  was  not  what  the  home  govern- 
ment had  intended.  They  wanted  to  benefit  Great 
Britain,  not  the  colonies,  and  now  England  bought 
most  of  her  naval  stores  in  the  East  as  before, 
while  the  colonies  grew  rich  by  supplying  foreign- 
ers. Next  followed  a  series  of  measures  intended 
to  restrict  the  trade  in  lumber  and  naval  stores. 
As  early  as  1665  Edward  Randolph  was  made 
"  surveyor  of  the  woods  and  timbers  of  Maine  "  at 
a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  per  annum.  The  office 
seems  to  have  been  a  sinecure,  for  at  a  later  time 
Governor  Bellamont  said  that  Randolph  "  never 
did  a  sixpence  work."  In  1691  the  office  of  "  Sur- 
veyor-General of  the  Woods "  was  established, 
covering  all  the  provinces  of  which  Bellamont  was 
Governor.  At  first  Randolph  held  this  place,  but 
a  few  years  later  his  successor,  Bridger,  entered 
on  a  quarter-century  of  what  the  colonists  consid- 
ered "  pernicious  activity."  His  duties  were  to 
see  that  no  masts  were  exported  without  a  license  ; 
that  no  waste  of  timber  was  permitted  ;  and  espe- 
cially that  no  trees  reserved  for  the  royal  navy 
were  cut.  In  the  various  grants  of  land  by  the 
government  provisions  were  usually  inserted  re- 
serving all  pines  of  twenty-four  inches  in  diameter 
at  twelve  inches  from  the  ground.  By  the  Massa- 
chusetts charter  of  1691,  the  cutting  of  such  trees 
on  land  not  included  in  grants  to  private  parties 
was  also  prohibited.  The  surveyor  was  to  mark 
these  trees  with  the  famous  sign  of  the  broad  ar- 
row. The  penalty  for  cutting  a  marked  tree  was 


38     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

one  hundred  pounds.  There  were  other  regula- 
tions, designed  to  prevent  wasteful  lumbering, 
some  of  which  were  not  ill-devised  and  might  have 
been  approved  by  the  colonists  had  they  been  im- 
posed for  their  benefit  instead  of  that  of  the 
mother  country.  For  instance,  in  1705  a  penalty 
of  five  dollars  was  provided  for  cutting  "  pitch 
pines  or  tar  trees  "  of  less  than  twelve  inches  di- 
ameter. As  it  was,  all  these  regulations  were  cor- 
dially hated,  and  poor  Bridger  had  a  lively  time  of 
it.  When  he  seized  timber  illegally  cut,  it  was 
often  rescued  by  mobs  ;  juries  refused  to  convict 
offenders  on  the  plainest  evidence  ;  the  marks  on 
the  king's  trees  were  cut  out  by  persons  who,  by 
way  of  adding  insult  to  injury,  put  the  broad  ar- 
row on  worthless  little  runts.  Bridger' s  life  was 
frequently  threatened,  and  he  was  accused  of  all 
sorts  of  malfeasance.  Once  he  had  to  go  to  Eng- 
land at  great  expense  to  defend  himself  against 
charges  of  corruption.  The  Board  of  Trade,  un- 
der whose  jurisdiction  he  was,  pronounced  him 
innocent  and  he  resumed  his  office.  His  succes- 
sors showed  no  better  results  than  Bridger  in  en- 
forcing the  laws,  although  it  is  said  that  they  knew 
better  how  to  make  out  of  the  office  profits  which 
would  not  look  well  in  official  reports.  The  irrita- 
tion growing  out  of  these  laws  did  not  cease  until 
British  dominion  came  to  an  end. 

One  of  the  causes  of  legitimate  dispute  regard- 
ing these  regulations  grew  out  of  the  vague  and 
inconsistent  character  of  reservations  contained  in 


The  Forest  and  Man  39 

the  various  grants  and  charters.  The  colonial 
authorities  in  Massachusetts  held  that  whenever 
a  tract  of  land  was  established  into  a  new  town- 
ship, the  royal  reservations  lapsed,  and  the  people 
of  the  new  town  could  cut  all  the  timber  they 
wanted.  The  Surveyor-General  construed  the  law 
differently.  In  the  Maine  district,  especially,  every 
new  town  meant  a  new  sawmill,  to  the  disgust  of 
the  Surveyor-General,  who  soon  came  to  put  all 
kinds  of  obstacles  in  the  way  of  new  settlements, 
and  so  added  to  his  unpopularity. 

The  making  of  tar  and  pitch  never  amounted  to 
much  in  New  England  or  the  middle  colonies,  not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  government  to  stimu- 
late this  industry.  One  of  the  most  conspicuous 
failures  in  this  line  was  the  attempt  to  utilize  the 
German  Palatines  in  a  scheme  for  the  wholesale 
production  of  tar  in  New  York.  The  experiment 
failed,  principally  for  the  reason  that  the  contrac- 
tors tried  to  treat  the  immigrants  like  serfs.  That 
was  not  what  they  had  come  to  this  country  for, 
and  most  of  them  left,  to  find  independent  homes 
in  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  Pennsylvania. 

While  the  mother  country  never  obtained  very 
much  benefit  from  the  American  woods  as  far  as 
the  production  of  lumber  and  naval  stores  is  con- 
cerned, it  was  very  different  with  another  product 
of  the  forests, — peltry  and  furs.  While  lumber  was 
too  bulky  and  too  expensive  in  transportation  to 
compete  successfully  in  European  markets  with 
that  of  the  Scandinavian  and  Baltic  countries,  furs 


40     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

did  not  suffer  on  this  account.  A  cargo  of  beaver 
and  marten  represented  a  vastly  higher  value  than 
the  quantity  of  lumber  or  naval  stores  a  single  ship 
could  carry.  But  the  manner  in  which  furs  were 
obtained  was  very  different  indeed  from  the  pro- 
duction of  other  staples.  It  depended  almost 
entirely  upon  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  conse- 
quently the  people  engaged  in  this  business  could 
not  confine  themselves  to  the  narrow  strip  along 
the  coast  where  the  settlements  were,  but  had  to 
penetrate  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  wilderness. 

To  the  fur  trader,  therefore,  is  due  the  first  knowl- 
edge the  white  man  obtained  of  the  interior  of 
the  continent.  The  French  in  Canada  were  on 
the  whole  far  more  successful  in  this  branch  of 
trade,  largely  on  account  of  their  better  ways  of 
dealing  with  the  aborigines.  To  French  voyageurs 
and  coureurs  de  bois  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the 
country  about  the  Great  Lakes.  But  while  they 
were  the  first  to  penetrate  the  interior  of  the  great 
eastern  forest,  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  col- 
onies were  not  slow  to  follow.  And  there  was 
this  difference  between  the  French  and  the  peo- 
ple from  the  British  plantations  :  the  latter  made 
permanent  agricultural  settlements  wherever  they 
went ;  the  French  established  nothing  but  trading 
posts,  with  hardly  more  agricultural  industry  than 
that  of  the  Indians  themselves. 

This  slow  invasion  of  the  forest  by  the  people 
from  the  seaboard  resulted,  at  first,  not  in  any 
very  decided  change  in  the  forest  conditions,  but 


The  Forest  and  Man  41 

rather  in  the  modification  of  the  character  of  the 
men  who  made  their  homes  in  these  wilds.  It 
created  a  type  never  seen  before,  a  type  which  one 
must  thoroughly  understand  in  order  to  obtain 
a  true  notion  of  American  history.  This  type 
was  that  of  the  backwoodsman,  the  product  of 
the  influence  of  primeval  forest  life  on  civilized 
Europeans. 

It  is  very  difficult  for  people  of  the  present 
generation  to  realize  what  it  meant,  during  the 
eighteenth  and  far  into  the  nineteenth  century, 
to  take  up  one's  home  in  the  heart  of  the  wilder- 
ness. It  meant  a  practically  complete  separation 
from  all  the  luxuries  and  most  of  the  necessities  of 
civilized  life.  As  the  forest  closed  behind  the 
settler  and  his  family,  he  knew  that  with  the  few 
simple  utensils  he  had  brought  with  him,  his  axe, 
his  rifle,  he  must  now  manage  to  get  for  himself 
all  he  required.  His  clothing,  his  simple  furniture, 
his  food,  his  own  hand  must  get  from  the  soil  of 
his  little  clearing  or  from  the  forest  A  sturdy 
self-reliance  was  the  first  quality  that  such  a  life 
must  foster.  There  was  no  possibility  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  graces  of  life.  All  the  virtues 
of  the  backwoodsman  were  those  of  a  strong 
animal  nature,  courage,  pertinacity,  resourceful- 
ness. His  vices  grew  out  of  the  same  qualities. 
No  doubt  he  was  coarse,  as  was  his  life  and  his 
food.  Not  rarely,  in  moments  of  irritation  and 
when  the  poisonous  spirits  he  distilled  for  him- 
self exerted  their  influence,  he  was  brutal  in  the 


42     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

extreme.  But  undeniably  these  people  were  men — 
no  weakling  natures  were  produced  by  the  life  in 
the  forests.  There  was  a  strong  love  of  adventure 
developed  in  many  of  these  characters,  which  gave 
evidence  of  a  hidden  power  of  creative  imagination. 
At  a  later  time,  when  the  scattered  forest  settle- 
ments had  grown  into  comparatively  populous  com- 
munities, this  latent  power  came  to  the  aid  of  the 
men  who  shaped  the  laws  under  which  these  new 
States  were  to  live.  For  the  laws  and  institutions 
of  these  western  commonwealths  had  to  be  changed 
from  those  of  the  East  not  a  little  to  fit  the  altered 
circumstances.  The  fact  that  the  original  immi- 
grants settled  on  isolated  homesteads  sometimes 
miles  away  from  the  nearest  neighbor  had  much 
to  do  with  the  unwillingness  to  co-operate  with 
others  for  common  purposes,  or  to  submit  to  any 
kind  of  discipline,  which  later  on  was  shown  so 
often  and  sometimes  with  disastrous  results  by 
the  people  of  the  Middle  West. 

Among  the  people  who  took  up  their  abode  in 
the  backwoods  were  men  of  all  the  nationalities 
represented  in  the  motley  population  of  the  colo- 
nies. In  the  North,  people  of  English  descent 
predominated.  But  in  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and 
the  Carolinas  the  backwoodsmen  were  more  apt  to 
be  either  of  German  or  Scotch-Irish  stock.  As 
these  colonies  were  more  immediately  contiguous 
to  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  it  was  in  this 
section  that  the  type  of  the  backwoodsman  devel- 
oped in  its  greatest  perfection.  No  matter  what 


The  Forest  and  Man  43 

the  racial  differences  were  between  the  settlers,  the 
conditions  of  frontier  life  very  soon  moulded  them 
into  great  similarity,  so  that  the  type  was  almost 
the  same  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf.  In  fact,  the 
first  white  men,  aside  from  the  French,  both  in  the 
regions  towards  the  North  and  South,  came  from 
that  middle  ground  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
where  perhaps  the  type  was  most  completely 
developed. 

To  what  extent  the  peculiarity  of  civilization 
evolved  in  the  early  days  of  the  States  between  the 
Appalachians  and  the  Mississippi  was  the  product 
of  the  forest  surroundings  becomes  apparent  when 
one  compares  the  development  of  these  States  with 
those  of  the  trans-Mississippi  country.  The  place 
of  the  pioneer  in  the  forest,  with  his  axe,  and  his 
leathern  hunting-shirt,  travelling  slowly  on  the 
rough  trails  or  drifting  down  the  rivers  in  canoe  or 
flatboat,  is  there  taken  by  the  horseman  of  the 
plains.  We  cannot  trace  here  the  details  of  how 
this  difference  in  surrounding  nature  has  expressed 
itself  in  the  laws,  customs,  and  institutions  of  these 
sections,  but  to  the  attentive  student  of  history  it 
is  plain  indeed. 

For  a  long  time  the  writers  of  American  history, 
mostly  men  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  almost  en- 
tirely neglected  the  part  played  by  the  backwoods- 
man. Yet,  now  that  our  history  is  being  treated 
with  a  more  truly  scientific  insight,  it  is  found  that 
in  many  a  crisis  the  peculiar  character  of  this  class 
exercised  a  determining  influence.  For  one  thing, 


44     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

it  is  coming  to  be  better  understood  that  the 
great  central  fact  of  the  first  century  of  our  na- 
tional existence  was  the  conquest  of  the  continent, 
not  the  slavery  struggle.  Even  in  the  latter  epi- 
sode, the  backwoodsmen  exercised  the  greatest 
influence,  for  their  sympathies  were  about  equally 
with  the  South  and  the  North,  and  wholly  for  the 
Union  ;  thereby  the  long  era  of  compromise  and 
delay  was  made  possible,  during  which  the  strength 
of  the  North  grew  so  much  beyond  that  of  the 
South  that  the  final  result  could  not  be  but  what  it 
was. 

The  culmination  period  of  the  backwoods  type 
of  American  may  be  held  to  be  the  time  from  the 
Revolutionary  War  to  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812. 
By  this  time  the  various  nationalities  represented 
among  the  western  settlers  had  been  welded  into 
homogeneity,  and  numbers  of  people  had  grown 
up  that  had  never  known  any  life  but  that  of  the 
forest.  During  this  period  men  springing  from 
pioneer  stock  first  assumed  leading  positions,  which 
they  continued  to  hold  long  after  the  conditions 
that  created  them  had  been  much  modified.  He 
who  does  not  understand  the  backwoods  type  and 
sympathize  with  its  primitive  strength,  notwith- 
standing all  its  crudeness,  will  never  comprehend 
why  Clay  and  Jackson,  Benton,  Cass,  and  scores  of 
similar  leaders  during  half  a  century  commanded 
the  admiration  and  affection  of  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  American  people,  and  why  at  the  same 
time  the  eastern  commercial  and  professional  classes 


The  Forest  and  Man  45 

never  overcame  their  distrust  of  them.  These  men 
owed  surprisingly  little  to  the  European  tradition 
still  powerful  in  the  East.  The  roots  of  their 
being  were  sunk  deep  in  the  western  forests. 
The  influence  of  the  boundless  woods,  with  their 
long,  dreary  stretches  of  swamp  land,  and  their 
majestic  corridors  of  towering  trees,  had  penetrated 
their  minds  on  their  long  travels  through  the  wil- 
derness as  circuit  riders  or  military  leaders.  Though 
some  of  them,  in  the  course  of  long  public  careers, 
became  really  men  of  wide  education  and  broad 
minds,  who  could  very  well  appreciate  the  points 
of  view  of  people  of  different  type,  yet  they  never 
lost  their  affinity  with  the  men  whom  they  repre- 
sented. The  winds  that  rustled  through  the  syca- 
mores of  the  river  bottom  can  be  heard  in  the 
speeches  of  Henry  Clay,  and  the  odor  of  the  pines 
hovers  around  Cass  while  he  moves  through  the 
over-civilized  circles  of  the  East. 

The  race  of  backwoods  statesmen  has  disap- 
peared. Their  successors  obtain  their  training  no 
longer  in  the  Indian  fight  and  the  log  cabins  that 
served  as  court-houses.  Their  training-schools  are 
the  library  and  the  university  lecture-hall,  and  the 
counting-house,  with  which  even  the  modern  law- 
office  has  but  too  much  in  common.  No  doubt 
they  will  never  be  guilty  of  the  lapses  in  good 
taste  nor  of  the  occasional  na'ive  blunders  their 
rude  predecessors  committed.  But  is  it  altogether 
for  the  best  that  the  influence  of  the  forest  has 
been  so  far  removed  from  our  modern  leaders  that 


46     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

they  see  its  beauties,  and  feel  its  rugged  strength, 
merely  in  the  tourist's  superficial  attitude  ?  How- 
ever that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  to  the  back- 
woodsmen we  owe  the  conception  of  an  America 
extending  throughout  the  continent,  and  even  be- 
yond, the  ideal  of  a  nation,  strong,  united,  able  to 
lead  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  ready  to  assume 
such  leadership  when  the  opportunity  offers,  with- 
out timid  deference  to  foreign  objections.  The 
generation  which  conceived  this  ideal  passed  away 
just  as  its  realization  was  made  possible  by  the  new 
nation's  baptism  of  fire,  the  Civil  War ;  and  as  if  it 
had  been  the  special  aim  of  Providence  to  set  up  a 
conspicuous  mark  at  the  end  of  the  period  when 
the  forest-born  generation  had  accomplished  its 
task,  the  President  who  guided  us  through  the  tre- 
mendous struggle  was  the  very  personification  of 
that  class  of  men, — the  backwoodsman  glorified.  In 
Abraham  Lincoln  all  the  repulsive  characteristics 
of  the  type,  its  coarseness,  its  brutality,  its  self-will, 
had  become  gradually  subdued  through  a  long, 
steadfast  career  of  ever-widening  responsibilities. 
When,  finally,  the  greatest  responsibility  was  cast 
upon  this  man  that  can  fall  to  the  lot  of  an  Ameri- 
can, all  the  dross  had  disappeared,  and  nothing  re- 
mained but  the  pure  metal — strong,  keen,  tempered 
to  perfection,  and  yet  at  other  times  as  soft  and 
pliable  as  gold  without  alloy.  When  from  the  lips 
of  that  man,  already  under  the  shadow  of  death,— 
although  the  throng  that  drank  in  his  words  knew 
it  not, — came  those  sentences  of  the  Second 


The  Forest  and  Man  47 

Inaugural,  which  will  ever  remain  among  the  most 
cherished  words  of  human  speech,  who  can  tell  how 
much  of  the  pathos,  devotion,  strength,  faith,  and 
love  dwelling  therein  had  its  birth  from  the  forest 
influences  that  surrounded  the  youth  in  his  father's 
cabin  ?  Who  will  say  that  we  exaggerate  in  main- 
taining that  to  the  primeval  woods,  to  the  manner 
in  which  their  strength  and  ruggedness,  as  well  as 
their  silent,  tender  workings,  were  mirrored  in  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  men  growing  up  in  their 
shade,  we  owe  that  which  makes  us  a  people  stand- 
ing unique  in  the  world's  eyes,  with  an  individuality 
and  character  all  our  own,  for  good  and  evil,  not 
a  mere  feeble  counterfeit  of  European  models  ? 
Surely,  if  there  were  no  reasons  of  practical  utility 
and  worldly  prudence  to  make  us  care  assiduously 
for  what  remains  of  our  forest  inheritance,  it  would 
behoove  an  American  to  give  his  best  skill  and  en- 
deavor to  its  protection  out  of  gratitude  for  having 
moulded  the  men  who  first  cast  off  the  shackles  of 
sectional  narrowness  and  dependence  on  colonial 
tradition. 

The  task  of  opening  the  wilderness  to  white 
settlement,  which  had  been  the  work  of  two  gen- 
erations of  backwoodsmen,  had,  in  effect,  been 
accomplished  when,  after  the  second  British  war, 
the  power  of  the  Indians  was  broken.  Henceforth 
it  was  no  longer  necessary  for  the  adventurous  set- 
tler to  have  his  rifle  in  readiness  while  he  wielded 
the  axe.  The  hearts  of  the  women  in  their  lonely 
cabins  no  longer  trembled  at  every  noise  which 


48     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

their  imagination  transformed  into  the  warwhoop 
of  the  murderous  red  man.  From  time  to  time  an 
outbreak  like  Blackhawk's  ill-fated  enterprise  still 
sent  a  tremor  of  dread  through  the  western  coun- 
try, but  these  were  like  the  dying  reverberations  of 
thunder  when  the  clouds  are  sinking  below  the  hori- 
zon. The  throngs  of  immigrants  now  increased 
apace,  and  quickly  the  clearings  multiplied ;  towns 
and  villages  sprang  up,  and  the  forests  began  to 
show  the  effects  of  human  labors.  But  so  strongly 
had  the  character  of  the  first  invaders  been  im- 
pressed by  the  forest  life,  and  so  closely  was  the 
resultant  type  adapted  to  the  conditions,  even  aside 
from  the  exigencies  of  Indian  warfare,  that  for  one 
more  generation  the  backwoods  type  remained 
dominant  in  the  West.  After  all,  though  settle- 
ment increased  fast,  the  western  people  still  lived 
in  lonesome,  self-dependent  isolation,  between 
miles  and  miles  of  forest  almost  as  untouched  by 
civilization  as  when  the  first  white  man  descended 
the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  few 
clearings  scattered  here  and  there  lay  mostly  on 
the  uplands  bordering  the  navigable  watercourses, 
and  had  to  be  reached  from  the  river  by  narrow 
trails  across  the  tangled  forests  of  the  river  bot- 
tom. It  was  out  of  the  question  to  transport 
heavy  goods  over  these  trails,  nor  were  the  means 
of  communication  such  that  they  encouraged  fre- 
quent trips  to  town.  Consequently,  the  settlers, 
during  the  slow  process  of  hewing  their  farms  out 
of  the  forest,  lived  almost  in  the  same  isolation  as 


The  Forest  and  Man  49 

the  first  invaders  of  the  wilderness,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  rely  for  many  necessaries  on  their  own 
skill  with  the  axe.  From  the  forests  they  obtained 
all  the  material  for  the  construction  of  their  cabins, 
from  the  puncheon  floor  to  the  shingles  on  the  roof, 
and  the  moss  that  calked  the  crevices  of  the  wall. 
All  this,  together  with  the  rude  furniture,  they  cut 
themselves  from  the  trees  on  their  homesteads. 
The  forests  also  supplied  them  with  meat  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  salt  pork,  itself  made  from  hogs 
that  found  every  bit  of  nutriment  in  the  spontane- 
ous products  of  the  forest.  When  the  first  high- 
ways, or  "  plank  roads,"  were  laid  out,  they  were 
hailed  with  delight.  Yet  what  poor  substitutes  for 
real  roads  these  were ;  rough,  sometimes  studded 
with  sharp  rocks,  as  they  ascended  a  steep  hillside, 
or,  again,  composed  of  equally  rough  logs  laid  cross- 
wise, called  corduroy,  where  a  wet  place  had  to  be 
passed.  Yet  these  were  superior  accommodations 
of  travel,  and  most  of  the  journeying  through  the 
woods  had  to  be  done  by  boat  or  on  Indian  trails. 

A  correct  conception  of  what  is  meant  by  a  trail 
in  the  forest  has  largely  been  lost  by  the  descend- 
ants of  those  who  a  hundred  years  ago  toiled  along 
them  into  the  western  country.  The  fact  that  trails 
are  laid  down  on  some  maps  issued  in  pioneer  days 
is  apt  to  give  the  inexperienced  an  idea  that  they 
were  some  sort  of  rude  attempts  at  roads,  made  arti- 
ficially by  the  Indians.  They  were  far  from  that. 
In  places  more  than  ordinarily  frequented  a  faint 
trace  of  foot-path  worn  into  the  ground  might  be 


50     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

discoverable,  but  generally  the  trail  was  nothing 
but  a  succession  of  landmarks.  A  spring,  a  natural 
meadow,  a  striking  rock,  a  peculiarly  shaped  tree, 
these  were  the  things  which  from  time  to  time 
proved  to  the  wanderer  that  he  had  not  "  lost  the 
trail."  Often  it  took  all  the  skill  and  experience  of 
the  woodsman  to  find  these  marks,  which  some- 
times were  nothing  but  the  faintest  evidences  show- 
ing that  people  had  passed  here  before — evidences 
which  by  the  novice  in  woodcraft  could  not  be  dis- 
cerned at  all.  Far  as  these  trails  were  even  from  the 
simplest  idea  of  a  road,  they  were  by  no  means  use- 
less ;  for  they  generally  led  through  the  portions 
of  the  wilderness  most  easily  traversed,  avoiding  as 
far  as  possible  the  impenetrable  swamps  and  wind- 
falls, and  crossing  the  rivers  at  the  best  fordable 
places.  Of  more  importance  was  the  trail  by  prov- 
ing to  the  traveller  from  time  to  time  that  he  was 
not  lost,  but  walking  in  the  right  direction.  To 
those  unacquainted  with  travel  in  the  forest  it  is 
sometimes  hard  to  understand  the  fear  the  natives 
have  of  getting  lost  in  the  woods,  but  a  little  expe- 
rience soon  convinces  them  and  often  throws  them 
into  the  opposite  extreme  of  an  unreasonable  horror 
of  leaving  the  beaten  path.  It  is  frequently  said 
that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  get  lost  in  a  forty- 
acre  piece  of  forest,  and  there  is  some  truth  in  the 
statement.  On  account  of  the  many  fallen  trunks 
one  has  to  climb  over  or  go  around,  and  in  places 
the  dense  underbrush,  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep 
one's  direction.  An  experienced  woodsman,  of 


The  Forest  and  Man  51 

course,  can  do  so  better  than  a  greenhorn,  and 
there  are  some  helps  furnished  by  nature  herself. 
To  follow  the  direction  of  the  streams  is  good  ad- 
vice, provided  you  know  where  they  are  running 
to.  Some  of  the  counsels  found  in  books  are  quite 
absurd.  For  instance,  it  is  often  stated  that  in  the 
absence  of  sunshine  one  can  tell  the  points  of  the 
compass  by  the  lichens  and  mosses  on  the  tree 
trunks,  which  are  always  thickest  on  the  side  of  the 
prevailing  winds.  What  good  do  the  points  of  the 
compass  do  one  who  does  not  know  in  what  direc- 
tion his  destination  lies  ?  Besides,  this  sign  may 
be  true  of  trees  in  exposed  situations,  but  not  of 
those  in  the  sheltered  depths  of  the  forest.  At  any 
rate,  to  be  lost  in  the  woods  is  a  sensation  which  no 
one  that  has  once  had  it  even  for  a  short  time  will 
want  to  repeat.  One  often  hears  the  statement 
that  nobody  was  ever  lost  for  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours  without  suffering  a  derangement  of  mind, 
and  I  believe  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  truth  in 
it.  The  oppressive  sense  of  utter  loneliness,  the 
fear  of  hunger,  and  the  actual  suffering  from  hun- 
ger and  fatigue  may  undoubtedly  exert  a  destruc- 
tive influence  on  all  but  the  strongest  minds.  Nor 
are  actual  dangers  entirely  absent.  As  a  general 
thing  our  American  forests,  at  least  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  are  not  infested  by  animals 
fiercer  than  the  black  bear,  who  is  very  careful  not 
to  get  into  trouble  with  a  human  being.  Yet  there 
are  even  recent  cases  of  people,  especially  children, 
being  attacked  by  wolves.  Some  eight  or  ten 


52     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

years  ago,  for  instance,  the  children  of  a  settler 
living  a  few  miles  from  a  town  in  Central  Wiscon- 
sin, a  little  girl  of  eight  and  a  brother  two  years 
younger,  went  picking  raspberries.  When  they 
had  not  returned  by  nightfall,  the  parents  became 
anxious  and  summoned  the  neighbors  to  help 
search  for  them.  But  no  trace  was  found.  The 
next  morning  the  people  of  the  village  were  notified. 
At  once  the  sawmill  was  shut  down  and  the  whole 
male  population  went  to  the  woods  to  continue  the 
search,  while  the  women  were  busy  providing  food 
for  the  searchers.  All  efforts  were  vain.  A  band 
of  tramping  Winnebago  Indians  who  happened  to 
be  in  the  neighborhood  were  arrested  by  the  sheriff 
on  suspicion  of  having  stolen  the  little  ones,  but  of 
course  there  was  no  evidence  of  this.  Several 
months  later  a  woodsman  found  the  remains  of  the 
unfortunate  children  in  the  densest  tangle  of  a 
windfall,  with  the  clear  traces  that  wild  animals, 
probably  wolves,  had  attacked  and  partially  de- 
voured them. 

Let  us  return  to  the  early  settlements  of  the 
western  forest.  The  lack  of  transportation  facili- 
ties was  the  chief  reason  why  for  nearly  a  gener- 
ation after  emigration  into  this  section  had  begun 
in  earnest,  the  condition  of  the  settlers  remained 
that  of  backwoodsmen  rather  than  farmers.  They 
were  still  directly  dependent  on  the  forest  for  nearly 
all  the  necessities  of  life,  and  the  forest  still  im- 
pressed its  indelible  stamp  on  their  character,  while 
they  produced  but  little  change  in  the  conditions 


The  Forest  and  Man  53 

under  which  the  woods  had  existed  for  countless 
ages.  The  change  came  with  the  advent  of  that 
great  revolutionizer  of  economic  and  social  condi- 
tions, the  railway. 

The  steamboats  which  came  several  decades 
before  the  railroad  had  not  by  any  means  changed 
the  conditions  of  western  settlement  to  the  extent 
one  might  expect  at  first  glance.  They  made  mi- 
gration from  the  Alleghanies  to  the  remotest  por- 
tions of  the  Mississippi  Valley  a  great  deal  more 
easy,  and  therefore  were  an  immense  stimulus 
to  increase  of  population.  But  they  were  rather 
calculated  to  restrict  settlement  still  more  to  narrow 
strips  along  the  river  valleys  than  had  been  the 
case  in  the  old  days  of  canoes  and  flatboats.  In 
the  prairie  regions,  of  course,  locomotion  was  com- 
paratively easy.  This,  together  with  the  easier 
mode  of  clearing  such  lands  for  agriculture,  gave 
those  sections  a  great  advantage  over  the  heavily 
timbered  portions.  So  it  came  about  that  those 
parts  of  the  Middle  West  which  were  continuously 
wooded,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  East  had  been 
originally,  did  not  come  under  the  influence  of  the 
various  waves  of  settlement  until  railroads  began  to 
be  built  through  them,  and  here  true  backwoods 
conditions  lingered  long  after  a  new  era  had  begun 
in  the  prairie  sections.  To-day,  the  last  trace  of 
the  backwoodsman  is  found  on  the  mountainous 
portions  of  the  South,  such  as  Eastern  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  or  parts  of  Arkansas.  But  like  all 
remnants  of  the  types  of  former  epochs,  it  is  a 


54     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

degenerate  relic.  The  latter-day  backwoodsman  has 
the  poverty,  the  ignorance,  the  lack  of  civilized 
ways  which  we  found  in  his  predecessor,  to  an  exag- 
gerated degree.  But  he  lacks  the  spirit  of  adven- 
ture, the  state-building  genius,  which  made  the  old 
generation  so  important  a  factor  in  our  national 
life,  and  above  all  the  energy  which  enabled  the 
men  of  1812  to  lay  the  foundations  for  an  enduring 
civilization.  The  railway,  which  gave  his  prede- 
cessor an  opportunity  to  grow,  is  reaching  him  also, 
and  the  question  is  :  Will  he  be  able  to  seize  the 
chances  offered,  or  will  he  disappear  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  ? 

Since  the  building  of  railways  through  the  forest 
began,  the  dominion  of  man  over  nature  has  been 
established  there,  as  it  has  been  on  the  prairies  and 
the  plain.  Settlement  now  invariably  follows  the 
railway  lines,  forming  a  strip  extending  a  few  miles 
on  either  side  of  them.  The  conditions  under 
which  newcomers  now  make  their  homes  in  the 
forest  are  very  much  easier,  indeed,  than  they  used 
to  be  in  the  old  days.  Scores  of  things  which  the 
backwoodsman  had  to  provide  for  himself  as  best 
he  could,  the  modern  settler  buys  at  cheap  rates 
in  the  railway  town  :  windows,  doors,  sawed  lumber 
of  all  kinds,  hardware,  furniture — no  less  than  clothes 
and  a  hundred  luxuries  which  his  predecessor  never 
dreamt  of  having.  The  modern  settler  is  a  link  in 
the  great  chain  of  world-wide  commerce,  where  the 
backwoodsman  was  an  isolated  being,  having  to  pro- 
duce almost  all  he  needed  with  his  own  hands. 


The  Forest  and  Man  55 

While  thus  the  immediate  dependence  of  the 
settler  upon  the  forest  has  greatly  declined,  indi- 
rectly the  forest  is  perhaps  of  just  as  much  impor- 
tance to  him  as  it  ever  was.  Certain  it  is  that  at  no 
time  in  our  history  has  the  forest  been  of  so  much 
importance  to  us  as  a  nation.  The  immense  in- 
crease in  the  business  of  lumbering  dates  also  from 
the  time  of  the  advent  of  railroads.  The  lumber  in- 
dustry, in  all  the  forest  region  where  settlement 
has  gone  forward  during  the  present  generation, 
has  been  the  main  support  of  the  settler.  Making 
a  farm  out  of  the  primeval  forest  is  slow  work.  On 
the  prairie  you  have  but  to  break  the  sod,  and  can 
get  a  crop  for  sale  the  very  first  season.  In  the 
woods  you  cannot  expect  to  raise  field-crops  for 
sale  till  after  a  number  of  years.  Therefore  the 
forest  settler  would  have  had  no  money  wherewith 
to  buy  the  commodities  brought  within  his  reach 
by  the  railway,  and  would  have  had  to  go  on  in  the 
old  backwoods  life,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the. 
wages  earned  in  the  lumber  industry. 

As  long  as  practically  all  the  settled  portions  of 
the  United  States  were  in  the  close  neighborhood 
of  extensive  forests,  there  was  little  trade  in  lum- 
ber within  the  country.  A  few  small  sawmills  pro- 
vided all  that  was  needed  for  home  consumption  in 
each  neighborhood.  The  country  people  lived  to 
a  great  extent  in  log  houses  of  their  own  fashioning 
and  considered  sawed  lumber  as  a  luxury  beyond 
their  reach.  Only  along  the  seacoast,  especially 
in  Maine,  New  York,  and  New  Hampshire,  was 


56     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

there  a  lumber  industry  intended  for  consumption 
away  from  home.  When  timber  fit  for  construction 
purposes  had  become  exhausted  in  many  places, 
such  lumbering  on  a  large  scale  became  a  necessity, 
and  from  that  time  on  the  relations  between  man 
and  the  forest  underwent  a  revolution.  Hitherto 
the  forest  was  the  dominant  element  ;  man  had  to 
adapt  himself  to  its  nature  if  he  wanted  to  sustain 
life  within  it,  and  the  strange  backwoods  type 
of  civilization  was  the  result.  Now  man  became 
stronger  than  the  wilderness.  He  began  to  carry 
all  the  appliances  of  his  industrial  and  commercial 
life  into  the  very  depths  of  the  forest.  Partly 
through  his  deliberate  intent,  partly  by  means  of 
unintended  consequences  of  his  acts,  he  disturbed 
the  life  processes  which  had  for  many  ages  deter- 
mined the  character  of  American  woods,  and  cre- 
ated new  conditions  to  which  the  forest,  or  so  much 
of  it  as  was  not  directly  destroyed  by  the  invaders, 
had  to  adapt  itself  or  perish. 

The  men  who  wrought  this  change  were  the  sons 
of  the  backwoodsmen.  Not  a  few  of  them  had 
themselves  spent  their  youth  under  backwoods  con- 
ditions. It  was  not  surprising  that  they  did  not 
at  once  realize  the  changed  relations  in  which  they 
stood  to  the  forest.  The  backwoodsman,  to  be 
sure,  derived  his  sustenance  from  the  woods,  but 
he  did  so  by  destroying  them.  To  his  eyes,  the 
fall  of  a  tree  was  the  rise  of  civilization.  The  ugly, 
repulsive  look  of  his  clearing,  with  the  fire-blackened 
stumps,  or  worse,  the  tree  trunks  still  standing 


The  Forest  and  Man  57 

upright  but  killed  by  girdling,  the  unkempt,  rude 
aspect  of  his  cabin,  were  for  him  the  cheerful  signs 
of  victory  over  hostile  nature.  The  woods  were  to 
him  something  to  be  got  rid  of,  if  such  a  thing  was 
possible.  There  was  for  him  no  sentimental  regret 
over  a  felled  forest  giant,  no  elegiac  tones  in  the 
song  of  the  axe.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  forest 
was  for  him  a  fact  of  most  stubborn  character.  He 
had  travelled  through  it,  slowly  toiling  along  the 
trail,  carrying  his  pack  of  provisions  to  sustain  life, 
or  gliding  down  the  interminable  windings  of  the 
river.  He  knew  how  large  it  was.  East  and 
west,  north  and  south,  he  knew  that  forest  extended 
for  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles.  He  was  but 
too  well  aware  what  slow  work  it  was  to  make  a 
clearing  but  a  few  acres  in  extent,  that  would  hardly 
be  noticed  in  the  vast  expanse  of  woods.  The  idea 
that  the  area  of  this  forest  could  ever  be  diminished 
by  human  hands  to  any  appreciable  extent,  so  that 
people  would  become  afraid  of  not  having  woodland 
enough  to  supply  them  with  the  needed  lumber, 
would  have  seemed  an  utter  absurdity  to  him.  To 
be  sure,  where  settlers  came  in  thick  and  fast,  the 
forest  might  disappear  and  farms  take  its  place  ; 
but  then  there  would  always  be  plenty  of  timber  a 
few  miles  farther  on.  Thus  the  legend  arose  of 
the  inexhaustible  supply  of  lumber  in  American 
forests,  a  legend  which  only  within  the  last  twenty 
years  has  given  place  to  juster  notions. 

It  would  have  been  too  much  to  expect  that  these 
ideas  with  regard  to  the  forest  created  by  three 


58     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

generations  of  backwoods  life  would  not  influence 
the  manner  in  which  the  lumber  industry  was  car- 
ried on.  No  doubt  it  would  have  been  well  for 
the  American  people  if  the  better  methods  of  fell- 
ing, methods  that  had  a  conservative  regard  for  the 
reproduction  and  continued  existence  of  the  forest, 
could  have  been  adopted  when  lumbering  on  a  large 
scale  first  began.  But  such  a  thing  was  impossible. 
It  could  have  been  done  if  the  pioneer  lumbermen 
had  known  what  we  know  now, — that  the  natural 
supply  of  lumber  would  be  sufficient  for  our  needs 
for  less  than  a  hundred  years.  It  could  have  been 
done,  above  all,  if  those  pioneers  had  held  the  same 
attitude  to  the  forest  which  we  hold,  who  live  in 
cities  and  among  well  tilled  fields.  We  stand  on 
the  outside,  and  can  see  many  things  which  they 
who  dwelt  within  the  forest  could  not  see.  Re- 
member that  those  pioneers  were  the  sons  of  back- 
woodsmen who  had  struggled  for  life  with  those 
very  forests  we  blame  them  for  destroying. 

Let  us  not  quarrel  with  that  sturdy  race  for  the 
harm  they  have  unintentionally  done  us,  for  we  owe 
them  too  much.  Remember  that  hundreds  of 
cities,  from  Pittsburgh  to  St.  Louis,  and  a  million 
rich  and  smiling  farms,  are  lying  on  the  grounds 
where  our  backwoods  predecessors  counted  each 
tree  that  succumbed  to  their  axes  a  victory  for 
civilization. 

Times  have  changed,  and  the  tasks  of  this  gener- 
ation are  different  from  those  of  the  last.  Their 
duty  was  to  make  room  for  human  life  where  wild 


The  Forest  and  Man  59 

nature  reigned  supreme.  Ours  it  is  to  bring  con- 
quered nature  into  harmony  with  the  higher,  fuller 
life  of  humanity,  lest  the  roots  of  that  life  be 
severed  and  die.  Woe  unto  us  and  our  posterity 
if  we  fail  to  do  our  duty  as  well  as  our  fathers 
did  theirs ! 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    FOREST    INDUSTRIES 

NEXT  to  agriculture  the  forest  industries  stand 
first  in  importance  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  while  the  various  forms  of  mining, 
including  such  occupations  as  brickmaking  and 
the  like,  rank  but  third.  By  forest  industries  I 
mean,  not  merely  lumbering,  but  all  those  industries 
which  obtain  from  forests  either  finished  products 
for  consumption  or  raw  material  for  manufacturing 
branches.  It  would  be  useless  to  insert  in  this 
book  columns  of  statistics  to  illustrate  these  facts. 
Those  who  care  to  study  them  can  find  them  easily 
in  publications  printed  for  that  purpose.  Nor  can 
we  attempt  to  give  a  complete  enumeration  of  the 
various  products  which  besides  lumber  are  fur- 
nished by  the  woods.  A  few  of  the  most  impor- 
tant ones  we  may  specify,  and  each  reader  will  find 
it  easy  to  add  to  the  list. 

First,  there  are  a  number  of  things  of  wide- 
spread use  which  are  very  apt  to  escape  the  census 
taker  altogether  because  they  are  mostly  made  on 
a  small  scale  for  local  consumption,  not  rarely  by 
the  consumer  himself.  Such  is  fencing  material 
of  all  kinds.  The  old-fashioned  zigzag  rail  fence 

60 


The  Forest  Industries  61 

is  not  yet  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  modern  wire 
fence  may  gradually  supplant  it — but  that  also 
needs  posts  to  hang  it  on.  Since  fencing  has  gone 
forward  on  the  treeless  plains,  a  large  trade  in 
fence  posts  has  even  sprung  up  to  supply  this  de- 
mand, while  formerly  fence  posts  were  mostly  used 
in  the  neighborhood  where  they  were  cut.  Tele- 
graph poles  are  another  minor  article  of  forest 
industry  which  yet  is  of  large  proportions  in  the 
aggregate  ;  so  is  the  supply  of  long  logs  for  piles 
under  the  foundations  of  buildings.  Railroad  ties 
are  consumed  at  an  ever-increasing  rate.  Hop 
poles,  bean  poles,  Christmas  trees  find  ready  sales 
in  many  places.  These  and  various  other  pro- 
ducts of  the  woods  have  the  peculiarity  that  even 
in  this  age  of  machinery  and  production  on  a  large 
scale  they  are  still,  to  a  very  great  extent,  supplied 
by  the  labor  of  individuals  armed  simply  with  axe 
and  hand-saw.  To  the  settler  in  forest  regions  the 
ready  market  he  finds  for  such  articles  is  a  very 
great  help  during  the  period  when  his  clearing  has 
not  yet  become  a  farm,  and  even  when  agriculture 
proper  has  become  his  main  occupation  he  can 
make  many  a  dollar  of  cash  by  work  of  this  kind 
in  his  timber -lot  during  unoccupied  intervals. 
Shingles  are  now  usually  made  by  machinery,  but 
in  many  parts  of  the  country  it  still  pays  to  make 
them  by  hand  for  local  consumption. 

Charcoal  making  is  a  forest  industry  which  em- 
ploys not  a  little  capital  and  a  great  many  work- 
men. It  is  still,  to  a  great  extent,  carried  on  by 


62     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  primitive  process  of  the  old-fashioned  kiln,  but 
better  methods  are  now  being  introduced.  The 
making  of  wood  alcohol  and  other  products  of  dry 
distillation  is  an  increasing  business,  and  while  the 
market  for  such  wares  will  always  be  limited,  the 
demand  must  increase  with  the  progress  of  the  in- 
dustrial arts  in  which  such  things  are  used.  The 
ancient  industry  of  making  pitch  and  the  like  is 
flourishing  in  many  parts  of  the  southern  pine 
regions,  as  is  the  making  of  turpentine,  which  is 
produced  mostly  from  the  long-leaved  pine  of  the 
South.  While  the  forest  products  just  mentioned 
have  been  known  to  man  for  thousands  of  years, 
modern  industrial  civilization  has  added  a  number 
of  entirely  new  forms  of  utilizing  forest  products. 
One  of  these  is  the  making  of  excelsior,  the  narrow 
strips  of  shavings  which  everybody  now  knows  as 
a  packing  material.  The  making  of  boxes  and 
packages  of  all  kinds,  from  heavy  dry-goods  cases 
to  the  little  thin-walled  berry  boxes,  has  also  be- 
come an  important  industry  within  quite  recent 
years,  and  opened  a  market  for  many  kinds  of 
wood,  such  as  poplar,  which  was  formerly  consid- 
ered quite  worthless.  But  the  most  astonishing 
case  of  the  rise  of  a  new  industry  is  the  making  of 
wood  pulp  for  paper,  which  was  quite  in  its  infancy 
twenty  years  ago,  but  now  produces  goods  of  the 
value  of  more  than  a  hundred  million  dollars  annu- 
ally. There  are  two  methods  of  making  wood 
pulp,  one  by  mechanical  grinding,  the .  other  by 
the  application  to  the  wood  of  various  acids  and 


The  Forest  Industries  63 

other  chemicals.  In  both  of  these  processes  the 
wood  most  largely  used  is  spruce,  but  poplar,  bass- 
wood,  hemlock,  and  several  other  kinds  also  enter 
into  the  consumption. 

A  very  important  product  of  forest  industry  is 
bark  for  tanning  purposes.  There  are  in  the 
United  States  a  number  of  trees  the  bark  of  which 
may  be  used  in  making  leather,  notably  several 
species  of  oak.  But  by  far  the  most  important 
tree  of  this  kind  in  North  America  is  the  hemlock. 
The  hemlock  industry,  by  the  way,  furnishes  a 
striking  illustration  of  how  the  American  forests 
have,  since  the  coming  of  the  railroads,  been  drawn 
into  the  circle  of  the  world's  commerce.  One  of 
the  centres  of  tan-bark  production  is  the  eastern 
portion  of  Central  and  Northern  Wisconsin.  Within 
a  few  years  large  tanneries  have  there  been  set  up 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  forest,  and  raw  hides  are 
brought  there  from  Argentina  to  be  treated  with 
the  bark  of  the  trees  growing  near  by. 

Side  by  side  with  the  wood-pulp  and  the  tan- 
bark  industries, — each  of  them  in  a  different  way 
illustrating  phases  of  the  most  modern  economic  de- 
velopment,— the  most  primitive  of  all  forest  indus- 
tries still  remains  one  of  the  most  important  of  all. 
That  is  the  cutting  and  consumption  of  fire-wood. 
Although  there  are  many  places,  even  within 
heavily  wooded  territory,  where  the  use  of  coal 
and  various  kinds  of  fuel  has  almost  entirely 
superseded  the  use  of  wood  for  heating  and 
cooking  purposes,  yet  it  is  probably  correct  that  an 


64     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

overwhelming  majority  of  the  American  people  is 
still  dependent  on  this  most  primitive  of  all  fuels. 
This  refers  especially  to  the  rural  population,  but 
also  in  a  large  degree  to  the  villages  and  smaller 
cities.  Statistics  leave  one  utterly  in  the  lurch  when 
he  tries  to  realize  the  extent  of  fire-wood  consump- 
tion :  for  the  greater  portion  of  it  takes  place  in  the 
homes  of  the  producers  themselves,  while  wood 
which  is  sold  goes  ordinarily  direct  from  the  man 
who  cuts  it  to  the  person  that  uses  it.  Conse- 
quently there  is  no  middleman  to  whom  the  census 
taker  could  apply  for  information.  Generally 
speaking,  the  price  of  fire-wood  is  limited,  in  this 
country,  to  the  cost  of  cutting  and  hauling  it.  But 
there  are  exceptions  in  favored  localities,  especially 
near  large  towns.  For  instance,  the  management 
of  the  celebrated  Biltmore  forest  in  North  Caro- 
lina, which  will  repeatedly  be  mentioned  in  these 
pages,  has  during  recent  years  made  enough  out  of 
the  sale  of  fire-wood  to  pay  the  considerable  expense 
of  managing  that  property  according  to  silvicultural 
methods.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  rail- 
way locomotives  are  still  using  wood  for  fuel,  and 
in  a  few  manufacturing  branches  wood  is  preferred 
to  coal. 

Turning  now  to  the  lumber  industry  proper,  we 
must  distinguish  between  two  principal  branches  of 
it,  which  almost,  though  not  entirely,  coincide  with 
the  popular  distinction  between  hard  woods  and 
soft  woods.  Among  hard  woods  are  included  the 
kinds  of  lumber  coming  from  broad-leaved  trees, 


The  Forest  Industries  65 

although  some  of  these,  like  basswood  and  poplar, 
are  not  at  all  hard  when  treated  with  cutting  tools. 
Several  species  of  hard  wood  are  widely  used  in 
building,  for  floors,  wainscoting,  and  interior  finish 
in  general.  But  the  larger  portion  of  this  branch 
of  lumber  is  consumed  in  the  various  manufactur- 
ing industries,  such  as  furniture  making,  carriage 
building,  and  the  like.  The  other  great  division  of 
lumbering  is  the  production  of  building  timber, 
obtained  principally  from  coniferous  trees  and  in- 
discriminately called  soft  wood,  although  some 
kinds  are  harder  and  heavier  than  many  woods 
from  broad-leaved  trees.  Of  this  the  American 
people  consume  larger  quantities  than  any  other 
nation,  for  the  reason  that  houses  built  mainly  of 
wood  are  still  the  rule  with  us,  while  in  Western 
and  Central  Europe  wooden  houses  are  practically 
unknown.  On  account  of  our  prevalent  fashion  of 
building  "  frame  "  houses,  we  consume  most  of  our 
lumber  in  the  shape  of  boards.  In  Europe,  so  far 
as  wood  enters  into  the  construction  of  house  walls, 
at  all,  it  is  used  in  the  shape  of  beams,  while  the 
use  of  boards  is  confined  principally  to  floors  and 
other  interior  work.  These  facts  are  important  to 
know  when  one  attempts  to  compare  the  lumber 
industries  of  two  countries,  and  their  neglect  would 
lead  to  very  erroneous  conclusions. 

It  may  be  said  here  that  while  we  have  much  to 
learn  from  several  European  countries  with  refer- 
ence to  the  continued  maintenance  of  forests,  and 
proper  methods  of  silviculture,  we  need  not  go  to 


66     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

school  with  them  in  anything  which  concerns  the 
lumber  industry  proper,  the  transporting  and  saw- 
ing of  logs.  Our  appliances  for  transportation, 
aside  from  permanent  roads,  which  we  do  not  need 
as  long  as  we  do  not  care  for  forest  reproduction, 
are  far  superior  to  those  employed  in  Europe ;  the 
machinery  of  our  sawmills  causes  admiration  and 
astonishment  to  the  foreign  expert.  When  one 
visits  our  lumber  towns  he  may  at  first  wonder 
at  the  apparent  waste,  and  ascribe  it  to  crude 
methods,  when  he  sees  the  immense  accumulation 
of  waste  material,  "  slabs,"  and  other  debris  encum- 
bering the  ground.  But  in  reality  everything  is 
utilized  for  which  there  is  a  market  or  a  use.  Even 
the  sawdust  often  serves  as  fuel  in  the  mill,  and  is 
transported  automatically  from  the  saws  to  the 
fires.  If  there  is  some  material  thrown  away  which 
is  saved  in  a  European  mill,  it  is  because  nobody 
will  have  it,  just  as,  in  felling,  we  must  lose  the 
tops  and  smaller  branches,  while  the  European 
lumberman  binds  them  into  faggots  and  can  sell 
them  for  fuel. 

The  occupation  of  a  lumberman,  his  life  in  camp 
and  on  the  river  drive,  has  a  certain  picturesque 
quality  which  has  always  made  it  attractive  to  the 
outsider.  But  before  we  attempt  to  sketch  in  out- 
line some  of  the  striking  phases  of  this  business,  we 
ought  to  discuss  two  questions  of  very  great  impor- 
tance to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  matters  with 
which  we  have  to  deal.  These  are  :  How  long  will 
American  forests  be  able  to  supply  the  demand  for 


The  Forest  Industries  67 

lumber  ?  and  to  what  extent  is  it  likely  that  substi- 
tutes will  be  found  for  the  use  of  wood  ? 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  spoken  of  the 
legend,  formerly  so  widely  believed  in,  of  the  inex- 
haustible supply  of  merchantable  timber  in  the  pri- 
meval woods  of  the  country.  That  story  is  no 
longer  credited,  and  even  the  lumbermen  are  fully 
convinced  now  that  the  giving  out  of  the  original 
material  is  a  mere  question  of  time.  Nowhere  in 
North  America  is  lumber  fit  for  general  building 
purposes  cut  from  second-growth  timber,  that  is, 
from  timber  which  has  grown  from  seedlings  since 
the  original  trees  have  been  removed.  Where  a 
second-growth  crop  of  pine  and  other  conifers  is 
now  harvested,  it  is  being  used  in  various  manufac- 
turing industries.  Where  lumbermen,  cutting  con- 
struction material,  speak  of  "  second  growth,"  they 
merely  refer  to  timber  which  they  left  standing 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago  because  the  trees  were 
then  too  small  and  they  culled  only  the  larger  in- 
dividuals. Exhaustion  of  timber  supply,  therefore, 
is,  under  present  conditions,  identical  with  exhaus- 
tion of  the  supply  found  in  virgin  or  primeval 
forest. 

A  distinction  must  be  made  between  exhausting 
the  lumber  supply  of  a  whole  country  and  that  of 
a  particular  region.  The  former  would  be  an  un- 
doubted national  calamity ;  the  latter  may,  under 
some  circumstances,  be  a  benefit.  In  the  second 
part  of  this  volume,  when  we  come  to  speak  of  the 
manner  in  which  our  forest  resources  ought  to  be 


68     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

treated,  we  will  have  to  impress  upon  the  reader 
the  importance  of  the  principle  that  forests,  unless 
for  protective  purposes,  ought  not  to  be  maintained 
on  land  which  could  be  utilized  in  a  different  way 
with  greater  profit  to  the  owner.  Therefore,  it  is 
not  to  be  regretted  if  a  region  of  great  agricultural 
capabilities  ceases  to  supply  lumber  and  becomes  a 
farming  country.  But  it  is  otherwise  where  an  area 
is  denuded  of  its  merchantable  timber  and  hence- 
forth lies  as  an  idle  waste,  stocked  at  best  with  scrub 
and  inferior  species  of  trees — weeds,  as  the  forester 
calls  them.  Unfortunately,  a  large  part  of  what 
was  once  magnificent  white  pine  forest  is  now  in 
that  condition.  The  eastern  part  of  the  white 
pine  area,  Maine  and  the  rest  of  New  England, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  has  long  ago  ceased  to 
play  a  large  part  in  the  pine  lumber  market.  The 
bulk  of  the  white  pine  now  produced  comes  from 
the  Great  Lakes  country.  But  here,  also,  the  end 
is  near.  In  Michigan,  where,  twenty  years  ago, 
Saginaw  was  the  centre  of  the  greatest  lumber  in- 
dustry in  the  world,  the  year  1882  marked  the  cli- 
max of  the  output.  A  rapid  decline  followed,  and 
to-day  Michigan  pine  lumbering  on  a  large  scale  is 
practically  at  an  end.  Wisconsin  reached  its  great- 
est output  just  ten  years  after  Michigan.  It  still 
produces  a  very  large  quantity  every  year,  though 
much  less  than  in  1892.  According  to  the  most 
reliable  estimates,  it  may  still  be  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  pine  lumber  market  for  ten  years,  and 
then  the  end  will  have  come  here  also.  Minnesota 


The  Forest  Industries  69 

is  now  the  State  in  which  the  greatest  quantity  of 
merchantable  pine  is  to  be  found.  How  long  it 
will  hold  out  is  uncertain,  but  hardly  more  than 
twenty  years,  even  with  somewhat  reduced  output. 

What  will  be  the  consequence  of  this  exhaustion 
of  white  pine  lumber  ?  To  the  States  immediately 
concerned  it  will  mean  that  thousands  of  people 
who  have  made  their  living  in  the  pineries  and 
sawmills  will  have  to  go  elsewhere  ;  that  others 
who  have  prospered  by  supplying  the  wants  of  the 
lumber  crews  must  do  the  same  or  go  into  some 
other  business.  To  some  extent,  agriculture  will 
take  the  place  of  lumbering  as  the  principal  support 
of  this  section,  but  not  altogether ;  for  many  large 
tracts  from  which  the  pine  has  been  cut  are  quite 
unfit  for  farming.  Even  now  there  are  in  Michigan 
and  Wisconsin  many  places,  thriving  villages  and 
little  cities  fifteen  years  ago,  which  are  now  almost 
deserted,  with  the  houses  falling  into  ruin.  The 
pine  timber  of  the  neighborhood  has  all  been  cut, 
the  sawmill  shut  down,  and  with  it  prosperity 
disappeared. 

Taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  the  consequences 
of  white  pine  disappearing  will  not  be  quite  so  bad. 
The  place  of  this  material  will  be  taken,  for  all 
ordinary  purposes,  by  the  various  kinds  of  south- 
ern pine,  especially  the  long-leaved  species  (Pinus 
palustris),  commonly  called  Georgia  pine.  This 
has  already  been  done  to  a  considerable  extent. 
This  is  the  reason  why  there  has  not  been  an  ap- 
preciable rise  in  the  price  of  white  pine  for  lumber, 


70     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

notwithstanding  the  comparative  scarcity  of  the 
material.  How  long  the  supply  of  the  southern 
pine  will  hold  out,  nobody  can  foretell  at  present 
with  any  degree  of  certainty.  In  the  first  place,  no 
one  knows  just  how  much  there  may  be  standing, 
and  secondly,  nobody  can  guess  what  the  future 
demand  may  be.  It  may  go  on  increasing  at  the 
tremendous  rate  at  which  it  has  done  during  the 
last  quarter-century,  or  it  may  remain  comparatively 
stationary.  Probably  the  extreme  limit,  however, 
for  supplying  the  market  with  original  southern 
pine  on  a  large  scale  is  fifty  years. 

Whether  the  western  conifers,  the  sugar  pines, 
Douglas  spruce,  and  other  species,  many  of  which 
produce  construction  lumber  second  only  to  white 
pine,  will  ever  play  an  important  part  in  lumber 
markets  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  doubtful. 
They  now  supply  the  demand  of  the  Pacific  coast 
and  several  foreign  countries,  notably  Australia. 
But  it  may  be  that  the  cost  of  transportation  will 
keep  them  out  of  the  eastern  markets,  even  after 
the  Nicaragua  Canal  shall  have  established  cheap 
communication  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

As  to  hard-wood  lumbering,  the  centre  of  that  in- 
dustry is  now  the  great  middle  region,  about  the 
latitude  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  where  the 
broad-leaved  forests  of  the  United  States  reach 
their  finest  development.  However,  there  is  also  a 
great  deal  of  hard-wood  lumber  produced  in  Michi- 
gan and  Wisconsin, and  even  such  comparatively  de- 
forested States  as  Ohio  and  Indiana  still  contribute 


The  Forest  Industries  71 

a  generous  share.  Much  of  the  hard  wood  of 
the  country  is  still  annually  wasted,  for  want  of  a 
market.  Many  thousands  of  logs  that  ought  to 
bring  good  prices  and  be  made  into  furniture  and 
other  manufactured  articles  are  used  as  fuel,  or, 
worse,  burnt  up  by  the  settlers  in  clearing  simply 
to  get  rid  of  them.  With  increased  transportation 
facilities  such  waste  will  largely  cease,  and  the 
hard-wood  forest  will  for  a  long  time  to  come 
increase  as  a  factor  in  the  industrial  life  of  the 
country.  This  may  be  a  good  place  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  we  are  naturally  far  richer  in 
lumber  trees  than  our  European  friends.  This  is 
true  of  both  soft  and  hard  woods.  In  Europe  there 
may  be  about  a  score  of  trees  which  are  of  commer- 
cial importance.  In  the  United  States  and  Canada 
there  are  nearly  five  hundred  indigenous  trees. 
Of  these  about  a  hundred  are  of  such  quality  and 
occur  in  such  numbers  that  they  may  fairly  be 
classed  among  the  industrially  useful  ones.  This 
list  is  constantly  increased  as  trees  heretofore 
neglected  come  into  use  and  gain  a  place  in  the 
lumber  markets.  This  happened,  for  instance,  to  the 
sweet-gum  (Liquidambar  styraciflud)  within  quite 
recent  years.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  cotton- 
wood  (Populus  monilifera),  which  was  formerly  con- 
sidered useless,  but  is  now  largely  cut  for  packages. 
Whatever  may  be  true  of  the  hard-wood  industry, 
the  supply  of  soft-wood  lumber,  which  for  the 
present,  at  least,  is  of  the  greater  economic  im- 
portance, cannot  last  longer  than  half  a  century  at 


72     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

most.  It  should  not  be  understood  that  after  the 
time  which  we  have  above  set  for  the  disappearance 
of  the  white  pine,  together  with  the  Norway  and 
hemlock  which  are  lumbered  in  the  same  area,  not 
another  log  of  merchantable  size  will  be  cut  there. 
On  the  contrary,  some  white  pine,  for  local  con- 
sumption or  special  uses,  will  continue  to  be  pro- 
duced, but  it  will  not  be  enough  to  cut  a  figure  in 
the  lumber  markets  of  the  entire  country.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  southern  or  yellow  pine  supply. 
This  refers,  of  course,  to  the  cutting  of  virgin  pine. 
If  we  could  proceed  to  cut  the  second  growth  after 
the  original  material  is  consumed,  we  would  have  no 
trouble.  But  such  a  thing  will  not  be  possible  if  we 
merely  trust  to  the  natural  reproduction  without 
taking  the  steps  to  promote  and  protect  such  re- 
production, which  will  be  treated  of  in  the  second 
part  of  this  book. 

The  only  other  way  out  of  the  dilemma  will  be  to 
substitute  for  the  use  of  lumber  in  construction 
other  materials,  wherever  that  is  possible.  We 
cannot  rely  on  importation  from  foreign  countries 
for  the  reason  that  there  is  nowhere  a  source  of 
supply  of  building  timber  even  approximately  ade- 
quate to  our  present  demand.  It  should  be  ob- 
served that  we  consume  annually  about  four  times 
as  much  lumber  per  capita  as  England,  and  three 
times  as  much  as  Germany.  That  this  will  have  to 
be  changed  during  the  next  fifty  years,  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  even  if  we  adopt  a  policy  of  systematic 
timber  culture  during  the  next  decade. 


The  Forest  Industries  73 

Now  to  what  extent  is  it  possible  to  substitute 
other  materials  where  at  present  we  use  soft  woods  ? 
To  a  very  limited  extent  it  will  be  feasible  to  sub- 
stitute hard-wood  lumber,  as,  for  instance,  poplar  for 
pine  in  the  making  of  boxes  and  packages.  This 
is  already  being  done  to  a  considerable  extent. 
But  then  that  means  only  deferring  the  evil  day  of 
lumber  famine  a  few  decades,  for  it  will  make  the 
hard-wood  forests  disappear  the  quicker.  For  the 
erection  of  buildings,  sidewalks,  bridges,  and  similar 
structures,  the  use  of  stone,  brick,  and  iron  of 
course  suggests  itself.  Stone  and  brick  are  the  al- 
most exclusive  building  materials  of  Europe,  and  in 
our  larger  cities  these  materials,  together  with  the 
iron  used  in  large  edifices,  are  rapidly  driving  out 
the  typical  American  "  frame  "  houses.  Not  un- 
likely the  latter  will  have  practically  disappeared 
from  the  United  States  in  the  course  of  fifty  years. 
If  so,  it  is  by  no  means  a  thing  to  be  desired. 
Stone  and  brick  houses  are  no  doubt  more  lasting 
and  substantial  than  wooden  ones,  but  also  far  more 
expensive.  If  the  average  American  family  of 
small  means  in  the  future  will  not  be  able  to  obtain 
the  cheap  and  commodious  frame  dwelling  in  which 
it  lives  to-day,  that  will  mean  a  long  downward 
step  in  our  standard  of  life  towards  the  European 
level.  It  will  mean  the  spread  of  the  tenement 
house  from  a  few  large  cities  to  the  small  towns,  the 
disappearance  of  the  one-family  cottage,  with  its 
lawn  and  garden-patch,  from  the  villages.  It  will 
mean  the  loss  of  one  of  those  advantages  by  which 


74     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

we  have  kept  our  economic  superiority  to  the  older 
countries,  another  widening  of  the  rent  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  another  difficulty  thrown  into 
the  path  of  a  democratic  form  of  society. 

But  even  if  we  accept  the  necessity  of  restricting 
the  use  of  lumber  in  construction,  there  are  many 
other  uses  of  wood  where  a  substitute  cannot  be 
found  at  all.  Such  uses  will  easily  suggest  themselves 
to  the  reader :  aside  from  furniture,  he  will  think 
of  boxes  and  packages,  various  household  utensils, 
and  other  things  consumed  in  great  quantities  by 
every  civilized  society.  One  very  important  use, 
in  which  no  substitute  for  wood  is  likely  ever  to 
be  found,  is  the  consumption  of  mining  timber. 
Wherever  mining  is  carried  on  underground  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  shore  up  the  walls  and  ceilings 
of  the  galleries  with  timber  to  keep  them  from 
caving  in.  This  necessity  is  one  of  the  heaviest 
sources  of  expense  in  most  mines,  and  a  constant 
supply  of  cheap  timber  is  necessary  to  their  running. 
It  is  not  apparent  what  substitute  could  ever  be 
employed  for  such  and  similar  purposes,  so  that  the 
disappearance  of  timber  supply  would  be  a  death- 
blow to  the  mining  interests. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  maintenance  of  a  supply 
of  timber,  both  of  the  soft-  and  hard-wood  kind,  re- 
mains a  vital  necessity  of  our  economic  welfare, 
even  if  our  present  rate  of  consumption  is  greatly 
diminished  in  the  future.  It  is  also  undoubtedly 
true  that  we  cannot  rely  much  longer  on  a  supply 
furnished  by  the  original  forest  in  the  way  we  have 


The  Forest  Industries  75 

done  heretofore.  The  forests  are  rapidly  disap- 
pearing, or  where  they  do  not  disappear  entirely 
they  deteriorate  so  as  to  lose  the  power  of  furnish- 
ing timber  of  commercial  value.  Fortunately,  it  is 
not  impossible  to  so  change  our  ways  of  treating 
the  forests  now  in  existence  that  they  may  con- 
tinue indefinitely  to  supply  us  with  their  products. 
By  doing  so  we  will  at  the  same  time  protect  our- 
selves against  certain  dangers  to  our  physiographic 
and  climatic  conditions  which  excessive  deforesta- 
tion brings  in  its  train.  These  dangers  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  another  chapter  in  connection  with  the 
means  that  should  be  adopted  to  prevent  the  im- 
pending famine.  But  before  we  proceed  to  this 
part  of  our  subject  we  ought  to  attempt  an  outline 
picture  of  the  manner  in  which  the  lumber  business 
has  been  carried  on  in  the  United  States  since  it 
first  assumed  large  proportions. 

There  are  few  legitimate  branches  of  business, 
not  consisting  of  mere  speculation  and  manipulation 
of  stocks,  in  which  such  large  fortunes  have  been 
made  by  individuals  during  the  last  fifty  years  as  by 
the  lumber  industry.  At  the  same  time  few  branches, 
aside  from  agriculture,  have  been  so  instrumental 
in  building  up  the  general  prosperity  of  the  sections 
in  which  they  were  carried  on.  The  foundations  of 
these  large  fortunes  were  laid  in  days  when  the 
scale  of  operations  was  small  and  a  man  needed  but 
a  few  thousand  dollars  to  begin.  At  the  present 
time,  all  lumbering  conducted  as  a  business  by  itself 
is  done  on  a  very  large  scale  indeed,  mostly  by 


76     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

corporations  the  capital  of  which  often  amounts  to 
millions. 

The  first  sawmills  built  in  the  Great  Lakes 
region  and  elsewhere  were  small  affairs,  driven 
mostly  by  water-power  and  intended  to  supply 
local  demand.  Sometimes  they  were  run  in  con- 
nection with  grist-mills.  People  of  the  neighbor- 
hood would  bring  logs  cut  on  their  farms  to  the 
mill,  and  have  them  sawed  into  boards,  paying  a 
toll,  as  they  would  for  the  grinding  of  grain  into 
flour.  When  sawing  on  a  truly  commercial  basis 
began,  it  was  done  to  supply  the  demand  for  lumber 
springing  up  in  the  cities  that  began  to  grow  all 
over  the  Mississippi  Valley.  This  new  demand 
soon  exhausted  the  timber  supplies  of  the  imme- 
diate neighborhoods  and  made  it  necessary  to  go 
to  comparatively  remote  places  to  cut  the  logs 
required. 

The  history  of  the  modern  lumber  industry  may 
be  divided  into  two  periods,  with  well  marked  char- 
acteristics. During  the  first,  the  sawmills  were 
as  near  as  possible  to  the  places  of  consumption, 
and  the  logs  were  brought  long  distances  to  the 
mills.  During  the  latter,  it  is  more  economical  to 
saw  the  lumber  as  near  as  feasible  to  the  place 
where  the  logs  are  cut,  and  transport  the  sawed 
material  to  the  place  of  consumption.  The  change 
from  one  method  to  the  other  is  marked  by  the 
advent  of  the  railway,  aided  by  the  great  improve- 
ments in  mill  machinery,  which  make  it  possible  to 
erect  sawmills  in  the  very  heart  of  the  forest. 


The  Forest  Industries  77 

The  first  period  is  the  heyday  of  the  "  river 
towns  "  all  along  the  great  streams  tributary  to  the 
Father  of  Waters.  In  those  days,  when  the  notion 
of  inexhaustible  supplies  was  still  universal,  the 
lumbermen  were  fastidious  indeed  as  to  what  and 
where  they  would  cut.  They  would  take  only  the 
largest  and  soundest  pines,  in  localities  near  the  big 
streams,  where  logs  could  be  carried  to  the  water's 
edge  at  the  smallest  possible  cost.  The  transpor- 
tation down  to  the  mill  was  then  almost  universally 
done  by  rafts.  Every  large  river  was  covered  with 
these  rafts,  composed  of  pine  logs  fastened  closely 
together.  The  occupation  of  the  raftsman  who 
guided  these  immense  floats  down  the  river,  over 
sand-bars  and  through  rapids,  was  one  that  required 
unusual  skill,  daring,  and  strength.  The  journey 
from  the  pineries  to  the  mill  sometimes  occupied 
many  weeks,  and  was  accomplished  quicker  or 
more  slowly  according  to  the  stage  of  water.  The 
dangers  both  to  the  raft  and  to  the  men  floating  it 
were  various,  and  many  a  poor  fellow  has  been 
sucked  under  the  logs  by  the  current  and  drowned 
in  a  vain  endeavor  to  release  a  raft  from  some  rock 
or  other  obstacle  in  the  channel  on  which  it  had 
stranded. 

At  the  present  time,  rafts  of  logs  are  rarely  seen 
on  the  rivers  of  the  West,  except  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  also  occasionally  on  the  Great  Lakes.  The 
modern  rafts  are  apt  to  be  even  larger  than  those 
of  the  olden  time,  and  are  usually  towed  by  steam- 
ers, one  forward  and  one  at  the  stern  to  keep  it 


78     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

straight  in  the  channel.  The  greatest  rafts  ever 
constructed  have  been  on  the  Lakes,  but  this  is 
not  the  usual  way  of  transporting  logs  there.  The 
risk  of  the  rafts  breaking  up  and  the  logs  scatter- 
ing in  a  high  sea  is  too  great.  Since  the  pine 
growing  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
rivers  large  enough  for  rafting  has  been  cut,  the 
lumbermen  have  gone  up  to  the  very  headwaters 
of  the  streams  and  along  brooks  of  the  smallest 
kind.  On  these  the  logs  cut  during  the  winter 
are  floated  down  loosely,  taking  advantage  of  the 
high  water  when  the  snow  melts.  Usually  the 
freshet  caused  by  frequent  rains  in  June  is  relied 
on  to  drive  down  the  logs  which  were  not  brought 
in  by  the  early  high  water.  But  of  recent  years 
much  complaint  is  made  that  the  June  freshet  fails. 
When  the  logs  coming  down  the  smaller  streams 
reach  the  main  rivers,  those  belonging  to  different 
proprietors  are  very  apt  to  become  mixed.  To 
make  the  severing  of  property  of  different  parties 
possible  each  log  is  identified  by  the  mark  of  its 
owner.  These  marks  are  registered  in  official 
records,  kept  by  the  proper  State  officials.  To 
facilitate  the  sorting  of  logs  belonging  to  different 
people,  arrangements  have  been  devised  known 
as  booms.  These  may  be  described  as  lines  of 
anchored  logs  floating  on  the  water,  by  which  the 
river  is  divided  into  various  compartments.  The 
ends  of  these  compartments  can  be  opened  and 
shut.  If  the  lower  end  is  shut,  no  log  can  float 
out.  If  the  upper  end  is  closed,  none  can  come 


The  Forest  Industries  79 

in.  As  the  logs  come  floating  down  the  stream, 
men  armed  with  long  "cant  hooks"  guide  each 
into  the  compartment  in  which  it  belongs.  The 
booms  are  usually  maintained  by  corporations 
formed  for  that  purpose,  which  charge  a  toll  for 
the  services  rendered  by  them. 

Booms  are  not  the  only  structures  used  on  the 
logging  rivers  to  facilitate  the  "  driving."  On  all  the 
smaller  logging  streams  the  loss  by  logs  stranding 
on  account  of  insufficient  depth  would  be  so  great 
as  to  make  the  business  unprofitable  if  dams  were 
not  erected  at  intervals  to  produce  an  artificial 
head  of  water.  When  a  sufficient  number  of  logs 
are  collected  above  the  dam,  the  gates  are  opened, 
and  down  they  rush,  pell-mell,  the  artificial  freshet 
being  sufficient  to  carry  them  far  down  the  stream. 

When  the  logs  reach  the  mill,  they  are  confined 
in  a  boom  similar  to  those  used  for  sorting,  and 
out  of  this  they  are  drawn  up  to  the  saws  by  an 
endless-chain  arrangement.  A  modern  sawmill  is 
a  very  ingenious  piece  of  mechanism,  in  which  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  things  is  the  extent  to 
which  the  expensive  handling  of  the  material  by 
men  is  avoided  through  the  use  of  endless  chains, 
inclined  planes,  and  other  appliances  of  automatic 
carriage.  Now  that  most  sawmills  are  no  longer 
located  in  the  cities,  far  away  from  the  forest,  their 
site  is  often  on  one  of  the  lakes,  large  and  small, 
that  dot  the  pine  country  of  the  old  Northwest, 
and  these  lakes  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  a 
boom.  Often  a  small  lake  is  completely  covered 


8o     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

with  logs.  The  larger  mills  now  usually  run  day 
and  night  during  the  season,  since  the  electric  arc 
light  has  made  it  possible  to  do  this.  Very  often 
a  planing-mill  stands  next  door  to  the  sawmill, 
so  that  the  raw  lumber  may  at  once  be  finished. 
The  grading  and  sorting  of  lumber,  that  is,  its  clas- 
sification according  to  quality,  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  tasks  of  the  skilful  sawyer,  and  can  be  well 
done  only  after  long  experience.  There  are  very 
many  grades  of  lumber  recognized  in  the  markets, 
and  unfortunately  no  great  uniformity  prevails. 
The  various  grades  are  known  by  technical  names, 
such  as  clear,  select,  culls,  and  the  like.  They  are 
based  principally  on  the  freedom  of  knots  and  the 
texture  of  the  wood,  especially  the  proportions  of 
sap-  and  heart-wood.  The  average  quality  of  the 
lumber  reaching  the  market  has  very  much  deterio- 
rated during  the  last  twenty-five  years.  During  the 
early  days,  when  the  profits  of  lumbering  were 
much  higher  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  ma- 
terial in  easily  accessible  places,  only  the  best  trees 
were  taken.  At  present  the  lumberman  brings  to 
the  mill  every  stick  of  timber  out  of  which  a  board 
can  possibly  be  cut,  and  naturally  much  of  this  stuff 
is  knotty,  crooked,  and  sappy. 

While  in  the  old  days  the  lumberman  was  con- 
fined to  the  neighborhood  of  logging  streams,  be- 
cause it  would  not  pay  to  haul  logs  far  on  land, 
this  is  no  longer  true.  Now,  when  there  is  no 
convenient  river  to  float  his  logs,  he  builds  a  rail- 
way into  the  heart  of  the  pinery.  Somewhere 


The  Forest  Industries  81 

along  this  road  a  sawmill  is  set  up.  The  road 
serves  both  to  carry  the  logs  to  the  mill  and 
the  lumber  to  market.  These  logging  railroads 
are  of  the  roughest  kind  as  to  roadbed  and  equip- 
ment. They  serve  their  immediate  purpose,  how- 
ever ;  and  sometimes,  after  the  timber  which  they 
made  accessible  has  been  removed,  they  become 
regular  railways  to  supply  the  traffic  of  the  settle- 
ments which  may  have  sprung  up  in  the  meantime. 
As  the  pine  timber  has  become  scarcer  and 
scarcer  in  the  easily  accessible  places,  it  has,  of 
course,  become  more  important  to  know  just  where 
to  find  it.  This  has  given  rise  to  a  peculiar  class  of 
people  variously  known  as  woodsmen,  cruisers,  land- 
lookers,  whose  business  it  is  to  give  information  as 
to  the  existence  of  pine  timber,  its  location,  amount, 
value,  and  everything  else  that  a  party  seeking  to 
buy  "  stumpage  " — that  is,  standing  timber — must 
know.  These  men  have  a  remarkable  acquaintance 
with  large  portions  of  forest,  sometimes  covering 
almost  a  whole  State.  Their  information  is  usually 
recorded  in  maps  drawn  by  themselves  in  little 
books  made  for  the  purpose — little  blank  books 
that  can  be  carried  in  the  pocket,  each  page  usually 
arranged  to  cover  one  section  of  land.  As  the 
information  contained  in  these  books  is  the  stock- 
in-trade  of  the  cruiser,  he  is  rather  jealous  of  di- 
vulging its  contents,  for  which  he  ought  not  to  be 
blamed.  Often  he  is  in  the  permanent  employ  of 
a  lumbering  or  other  corporation  owning  timber 
lands  ;  at  other  times  he  is  in  independent  business, 

6 


82     North  American  Forests  and  Forestiy 

selling  his  services  to  whosoever  wants  them.  Very 
often  the  woodsman  combines  other  forms  of  wood- 
craft with  that  of  looking  up  timber.  He  may 
have  charge  of  a  logging  crew  as  foreman  ;  act  as 
"  sealer,"  that  is,  measure  the  amount  of  logs  cut 
by  some  contractor  ;  show  land  to  intending  settlers. 
Sometimes  he  condescends  to  act  as  guide  to  a 
party  of  sportsmen,  and  lucky  the  tourist  who  can 
get  a  man  of  this  kind  to  introduce  him  to  forest 
ways ;  he  will  learn  more  in  a  day  than  he  could 
without  him  pick  up  in  a  month.  As  a  class,  these 
woodsmen  are  of  remarkable  intelligence  and  have 
a  great  stock  of  empirical  information  regarding 
such  matters  as  fall  within  the  immediate  scope  of 
their  business.  It  is  a  strange  fact  that  notwith- 
standing this  intelligence  and  knowledge,  and  the 
great  opportunities  they  have  had  for  speculation 
in  pine  lands  and  stumpage,  these  cruisers  rarely 
become  wealthy.  Very  few  of  the  great  lumbermen 
have  risen  from  their  ranks.  It  seems  as  if  their 
constant  life  with  unsophisticated  nature  kept  them 
from  acquiring  that  worldly  shrewdness  which  is 
indispensable  for  success  in  money-making. 

When  a  lumberman,  acting  on  the  information 
of  his  woodsman,  has  acquired  a  body  of  merchant- 
able pine,  he  sends  a  small  crew  into  the  woods  to 
make  preparation  for  the  winter's  cutting.  A 
camp  is  built  of  logs ;  rough  "  tote "  roads  are 
made  on  which  supplies  for  crew  and  cattle  can  be 
taken  into  the  woods  ;  and  with  the  first  cold 
weather  work  begins.  Practically  all  felling  for 


The  Forest  Industries  83 

lumber  is  done  in  the  winter,  as  far  as  the  pineries 
of  the  North  are  concerned ;  only  hemlock  is  cut 
in  summer,  because  the  bark,  which  is  of  more 
importance  than  the  lumber,  must  be  handled  at 
this  season.  Work  in  the  lumber  camp  is  not  an 
easy  matter ;  it  takes  skill  as  well  as  strength  and 
endurance.  When  a  tree  has  come  to  the  ground, 
it  is  at  once  cut  into  logs  of  the  usual  length,  leav- 
ing as  waste  the  branches  and  so  much  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  main  trunk  as  is  below  log  size 
in  diameter.  The  logs  are  rolled  on  skids  to  be 
hauled  to  the  river  bank  or  the  railway  track,  as 
the  case  may  be.  The  animals  used  for  hauling 
are  now  mostly  horses,  but  formerly  oxen  were  al- 
most universally  employed.  Very  deep  snow  is 
undesirable  during  the  cutting  operations,  but  ab- 
sence of  snow  would  be  a  calamity,  because  only 
snow,  or  ice  produced  by  flooding  the  road  in  cold 
weather,  can  make  the  rough  logging  roads  passa- 
ble for  the  heavy  loads.  The  men  employed  in 
this  work  were  in  former  years  nearly  all  experi- 
enced men  who  made  lumbering  a  business.  Since 
the  industry  has  assumed  gigantic  proportions,  the 
lumbermen  have  been  obliged  to  hire  numbers  of 
inexperienced  laborers,  whom  they  find  in  the  large 
cities  and  take  into  the  woods  in  gangs.  These 
men  do  not  get  as  high  wages  as  experienced  ones, 
and  a  few  of  the  latter,  besides  the  foreman,  are  a 
necessity  in  every  crew.  The  commissary  depart- 
ment and  the  cook  at  the  head  of  it  are  impor- 
tant parts  of  every  lumber  camp.  Work  of  this 


84     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

kind  can  be  done  only  with  good  food,  and  a  great 
deal  of  it  Therefore  it  would  not  pay  to  neglect 
this  branch  of  the  establishment — a  niggardly  log- 
ger would  be  deserted  by  his  crew.  In  a  well 
managed  camp  no  liquor  or  beer  is  tolerated  ;  its 
use  might  mean  death  to  a  man  working  in  the 
open  air  with  the  thermometer  at  twenty  degrees 
below  zero.  But  the  crew  can  have  as  much  hot 
tea  or  coffee  as  anybody  wants  to  drink. 

No  work  is  done  on  Sundays,  and  if  the  camp  is 
near  town  some  of  the  crew  may  go  there.  But 
most  of  them  stay  in  camp,  sleeping,  "  swapping 
stories,"  and  playing  cards.  Wages  are  paid  at 
the  end  of  the  season,  when  camp  breaks  up,  and 
a  man  who  worked  steadily  all  winter  draws  quite 
a  little  sum  of  money  in  the  spring.  There  is  usu- 
ally a  few  days'  interval  between  breaking  camp 
and  the  beginning  of  the  "  drive," — the  floating  of 
the  logs  down  the  river.  During  this  interval  the 
villages  and  towns  in  the  lumber  regions  do  a  lively 
business.  The  streets  are  full  of  men  just  back 
from  the  woods  with  plenty  of  money  in  their 
pockets  and  bound  to  have  a  good  time.  That 
their  idea  of  a  good  time  means  principally  drink- 
ing, gambling,  and  worse,  might  be  expected.  Of 
course,  not  all  workmen  in  the  lumber  camps  waste 
their  earnings.  Many  of  them  are  married  men, 
often  settlers  who  use  the  wages  they  earn  to  sup- 
port their  families  until  their  clearings  have  grown 
into  farms.  Generally  speaking,  the  notion,  preva- 
lent in  many  quarters,  that  the  lumbering  regions 


The  Forest  Industries  85 

are  gathering-places  of  the  "  rough  "  element,  is 
very  erroneous.  "  Roughs  "  do  not  hanker  after 
work  of  the  character  done  in  lumber  camps. 
Crimes  are  rare  in  these  sections,  and  those  which 
occur  are  usually  the  result  of  bad  whiskey. 

As  soon  as  the  ice  in  the  rivers  breaks  up,  the 
business  of  sending  the  logs  on  their  travels  be- 
gins. Of  all  the  operations  required  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  pine  tree  to  the  consumer,  this  is  the 
one  requiring  the  greatest  hardiness  in  the  work- 
man. The  river,  to  be  sure,  does  the  carrying  of 
the  logs,  but  the  latter  have  a  persistent  habit  of 
floating  to  the  wrong  places,  getting  stranded  on 
sand-bars  or  snags,  running  into  sloughs,  and  in 
various  ways  trying  to  escape  from  human  control. 
Consequently  it  is  necessary  for  a  crew  to  follow 
the  long-drawn  procession  of  logs,  or  station  them- 
selves at  the  points  known  to  be  dangerous,  and 
with  their  long-handled  hooks  to  keep  the  obsti- 
nate ones  in  the  main  channel.  In  doing  so  it 
is  often  necessary  to  jump  from  one  floating  log  to 
the  other ;  and  notwithstanding  the  sharp,  stout 
spikes  with  which  the  boots  are  provided,  to  take 
an  involuntary  bath  in  the  icy  water  is  "just  as 
easy  as  rolling  off  a  log."  The  hardships  and  haz- 
ards of  this  occupation  reach  their  climax  when  a 
"  log  jam  "  is  formed,  usually  at  one  of  the  rapids 
with  which  most  logging  rivers  abound.  Then  it 
becomes  necessary,  often  at  the  immediate  risk  of 
life,  to  break  the  jam  by  removing  some  of  the 
logs  which  by  being  stuck  against  the  rocks  hold 


86     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

those  above  them  in  place.  Many  lives  have  been 
lost  by  the  impetuous  rush  of  the  logs  when  those 
key-logs  had  begun  to  move. 

Lumbering  operations  differ  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  according  to  the  topography,  climate, 
and  the  species  of  wood  lumbered.  What  has  just 
been  said  of  lumbering  in  the  Great  Lakes  country 
is  substantially  applicable  also  to  Maine  and  other 
northeastern  lumber  regions.  Where  hard  wood 
is  cut,  transportation  of  logs  by  river  is  ordinarily 
out  of  the  question,  because  these  woods  are  too 
liable  to  sink  and  be  lost.  Some  kinds  of  hard 
wood  will  not  float  at  all.  In  the  South,  where  the 
swamp-loving  bald  cypress  (Taxodium  distichum) 
is  a  very  important  timber  tree,  access  to  the 
places  where  it  grows  is  sometimes  gained  by 
the  dredging  of  canals,  along  which  the  logs  are 
hauled  to  the  mill.  In  the  mountainous  regions 
of  the  West,  both  the  absence  of  heavy  snowfalls 
in  the  woods  and  the  immense  size  of  the  logs  add 
to  the  difficulties  caused  by  the  topography.  Here 
the  logging  railroad  is  of  nearly  universal  neces- 
sity, supplemented  by  slides,  on  which  the  logs  are 
sent  to  fly  down  steep  mountain  sides.  Logging 
on  the  Pacific  coast  is  even  more  interesting  and 
picturesque  to  the  spectator  than  that  along  the 
rivers  of  the  Great  Lakes  country. 

The  business  of  bringing  logs  to  the  mill  is  not 
always  done  by  the  owner  of  the  stumpage,  or  the 
mill,  at  his  own  risk.  Often  the  job  is  let  out  to  a 
contractor,  who  furnishes  his  own  tools,  teams, 


The  Forest  Industries  87 

men,  and  supplies,  and  is  paid  a  stipulated  price 
per  thousand  feet  board  measure.  The  measuring 
of  the  logs  is  a  constant  source  of  annoyance  and 
frequent  litigation.  Rarely  do  the  results  of  the 
sealer  in  the  forest  tally  with  those  at  the  mill.  The 
universal  practice  in  the  United  States,  is  not  to  rely 
upon  an  actual  measurement  of  the  cubic  contents 
of  the  log,  but  to  compute  the  number  of  feet  board 
measure ;  that  is,  the  amount  of  boards  of  cus- 
tomary size  that  ought  to  be  cut  from  each  log. 
This  is  done  according  to  one  of  a  number  of  sim- 
ple formulas  known  as  Doyle's  rule,  Scribner's  rule, 
and  the  like.  These  rules  do  not  pretend  to  give 
accurate  results,  and  the  inherent  deviations  from 
the  truth  are  increased  by  the  size  of  the  saw  used, 
the  skill  of  the  sawyer,  and  other  circumstances. 
The  advantages  over  measurement  by  the  cubic 
foot  are  that  only  one  computation  is  necessary  to 
get  the  amount  of  sawed  lumber  to  be  expected,, 
and  that  the  rule  can  be  applied  by  any  intelligent 
person,  without  even  a  rudimentary  knowledge  of 
mathematics.  In  several  States  official  sealers  are 
appointed,  who  receive  their  compensation  by  fees 
from  the  parties  needing  their  services,  and  it  is  a 
rule  of  construction  of  logging  contracts  that  in 
the  absence  of  stipulations  to  the  contrary  the  logs 
are  to  be  scaled  by  these  officers. 

As  we  have  seen  above,  the  end  of  the  lumber 
business,  as  now  conducted,  is  in  sight,  although 
it  is  impossible  to  fix  a  definite  date  for  its  disap- 
pearance. But  the  service  which  it  performs  for 


88     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  national  interests  is  too  indispensable  to  let  us 
believe  that  this  disappearance  will  be  more  than  a 
change  of  methods.  To  the  art  of  utilizing  timber 
will  be  added  the  art  of  producing  timber.  Hith- 
erto, the  influence  which  lumbering  has  exerted 
upon  our  forests  has  been  a  purely  destructive  one  ; 
the  time  has  come  when  it  must  also  become  a  pro- 
tective force.  But  before  we  proceed  to  discuss 
the  manner  in  which  this  great  change  may  be 
brought  about,  we  must  devote  a  chapter  to  the 
ways  in  which  the  destruction  and  deterioration 
of  forests  has  gone  on  since  the  influence  of  man 
was  first  felt  by  the  primeval  woods. 


CHAPTER  V 

DESTRUCTION    AND    DETERIORATION 

THAT  the  area  of  forest  land  within  the  boun- 
daries of  the  United  States  is  decreasing,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  It  is  unnecessary  to  bore  the 
reader  with  columns  of  statistics  on  this  point, 
even  if  accurate  statistics  were  in  existence  ;  for  it 
is  quite  unnecessary,  in  order  to  understand  this 
phase  of  our  subject,  to  know  even  approximately 
the  number  of  acres  of  woodland  annually  con- 
verted into  other  forms  of  plant  association. 

However,  for  such  an  understanding  it  is  neces- 
sary first  to  get  rid  of  a  number  of  vague  and 
erroneous  notions  that  are  widely  prevalent  among 
people,  even  persons  who  ought  to  know  better, 
such  as  lumbermen,  economists,  and  leaders  of  pub- 
lic opinion.  One  of  these  mistaken  notions  is  that 
there  is  danger  of  the  forests  disappearing  all  over 
the  country,  so  that  our  grandchildren  may  be  in 
the  position  in  which  it  is  alleged  that  the  people 
of  Spain,  Greece,  and  other  Mediterranean  countries 
find  themselves,  where,  according  to  popular  view, 
wide  regions  have  been  converted  into  deserts  by 
the  ruthless  destruction  of  forests.  It  is  very  likely  . 
true  that  there  are  districts  in  several  portions  of 

89 


90     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  United  States,  where,  on  account  of  the  reckless 
destruction  of  mountain  forests,  all  those  unfortu- 
nate consequences  of  excessive  erosion,  sanding  up 
of  valleys,  excessive  low  water  and  floods  in  the 
rivers,  and  danger  to  the  fertility  of  soils  exist, 
which  are  probably  more  familiar  to  the  general 
public  than  any  other  branch  of  the  forestry  prob- 
lem. But  for  the  country  at  large  no  such  perils 
are  threatening.  For  all  regions  that  are  not 
mountainous  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  moun- 
tain ranges,  the  question  of  over-erosion  is  of  very 
little  practical  importance.  This  refers  especially 
to  the  vast  agricultural  States  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  the  Great  Lakes  country.  By  far  the 
greater  portion  of  this  vast  extent  of  territory  is 
nearly  level  or  rolling,  and  most  of  it  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  from  an  economic  standpoint  it  would 
be  a  waste  if  much  of  the  land  were  left  to  be  forest- 
covered.  Yet  even  here,  notwithstanding  the  long 
and  thorough  settlement  of  much  of  this  territory, 
the  aggregate  of  woodland  is  still  very  consider- 
able. Nearly  every  farmer  has  a  more  or  less  ex- 
tensive wood-lot,  for  the  purposes  of  fuel,  fencing 
material,  and  pasturage  of  his  cattle  during  the  heat 
of  summer.  Whether  these  wood-lots  are  usually 
treated  in  the  most  profitable  manner  for  their 
owners  will  be  discussed  in  another  chapter.  Here 
we  are  only  making  the  point  that  there  is  no  prob- 
ability of  these  regions  being  entirely  deprived  of 
forests. 

Aside  from  the  wood-lots  of  the  farmers,  there 


Destruction  and  Deterioration  91 

are  in  many  parts  of  the  Lake  and  Mississippi  re- 
gion tracts  of  greater  extent  which  are  likely  to  be 
woodland  for  generations  of  men  to  come.  These 
are  sandy,  broken,  or  swampy  districts.  There 
are  in  many  even  of  the  long-settled  parts  more  or 
less  extensive  islands  of  this  kind,  where  agriculture 
has  made  hardly  any  inroads  on  account  of  the 
infertility  of  the  land.  The  swampy  districts  are 
perhaps  the  most  hopeful  of  these  tracts  from  an 
agricultural  point  of  view  ;  for  they  may  be  drained, 
or  where  that  is  impracticable,  gradually  dry  up  in 
the  natural  course  of  their  development,  and  in 
either  case  they  are  apt  at  last  to  form  very  fertile 
meadows  and  fields.  But  there  is  no  such  prospect 
for  the  sand  barrens  and  the  "  broken,"  hilly  dis- 
tricts. The  former  are  now,  in  the  three  great 
lumber  States  of  the  Lake  region,  as  well  as  in  the 
South,  furnishing  the  greater  part  of  the  output  of 
pine  lumber.  When  that  is  removed,  little  of  it  is 
taken  up  by  settlers,  but  most  of  the  land  is  left  to 
the  forces  of  nature  to  do  with  it  what  they  will. 
In  nearly  every  case  it  still  remains  woodland, 
though  of  a  very  different  kind  from  the  original 
forest,  and  of  little  economic  value.  Large  tracts 
of  such  lands,  deprived  of  their  original  growth  of 
merchantable  timber  by  former  lumbering  opera- 
tions, but  still  in  an  uncultivated  state,  can  be  seen 
in  nearly  every  part  of  the  country  within  the  limits 
of  the  eastern  forest  zone. 

There  is  also  a  very  considerable  amount  of  land 
being  converted   into  forest  which   was    formerly 


92     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

devoid  of  tree  growth.  This  will  be  a  surprise  to 
many  people  who  hear  only  of  the  destruction  of 
forests.  I  have  in  mind  not  only  the  planting  of 
timber  strips  on  the  plains,  which  is  rapidly  redeem- 
ing the  older  settled  portion  of  the  region  between 
the  Mississippi  and  Rocky  Mountains  from  the 
opprobrium  of  being  treeless ;  I  am  also  thinking 
of  what  is  going  on  in  the  eastern  prairie  zone, 
and  in  the  forest  region  proper.  Since  destructive 
prairie  fires  have  become  rare  in  Illinois,  Southern 
Wisconsin,  and  other  prairie  States  by  the  almost 
complete  conversion  of  prairies  into  cultivated  fields 
and  pastures,  the  neighboring  trees,  both  from  the 
"  openings"  and  the  "heavy  timber,"  have  begun 
to  occupy  such  prairie  territory  as  the  hand  of  man 
has  not  appropriated  to  himself.  In  many  parts  of 
these  States  there  is  actually  to-day  more  forest 
land  than  there  was  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  as 
no  lumbering  on  a  large  scale  is  carried  on  in  these 
regions,  the  extension  of  the  forest  area  is  likely  to 
continue  for  some  time.  Again,  in  the  forests  of 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  where  open 
peat  bogs  are  gradually  drying,  they  are  being 
covered  by  the  spruce,  tamarack,  and  arbor-vitae  of 
the  neighborhood.  The  same  process  is  reported 
from  the  bogs  in  Western  New  York,  and  is  prob- 
ably going  on  in  many  other  localities.  Finally  a 
large  acreage  of  woodland  is  being  added  each 
year  by  the  natural  reforestation  of  abandoned 
farms  and  "  old  fields  "  in  the  States  of  the  Atlantic 
border  and  the  South. 


Destruction  and  Deterioration  93 

While,  therefore,  no  grounds  exist  for  the  fear 
sometimes  expressed  that  our  posterity  will  know 
nothing  of  forests,  nor  the  multitude  of  beautiful 
and  ennobling  influences  radiating  upon  civilized 
men  from  woodland  scenes  and  woodland  life, 
still  the  fact  exists  that,  taking  the  country  as  a 
whole,  the  disappearance  of  forests  has  reached 
that  point  where,  in  the  interest  of  our  national 
welfare,  it  should  stop.  And  what  is  still  more 
important,  the  character  of  our  remaining  forests 
is  rapidly  deteriorating  in  economic  value.  The 
place  of  old  and  valuable  timber,  capable  of  sup- 
porting our  enormous  lumber  industries,  is  being 
taken  by  species  of  inferior  value.  White  pine, 
the  king  of  lumber  trees,  has  almost  gone,  as 
far  as  its  capacity  is  concerned  to  furnish  the 
whole  country  with  lumber  and  send  a  surplus 
to  foreign  parts.  Black  walnut,  once  exceedingly 
abundant  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  some 
time  ago  became  so  rare  and  expensive  that  its  use 
for  furniture  making  has  been  largely  abandoned. 
Hickory,  on  the  use  of  which  the  world-wide  fame 
of  American  "  buggies  "  and  other  vehicles  was 
based,  threatens  to  follow  the  example  of  its  cousin, 
the  black  walnut.  Thousands  of  square  miles  that 
were  once  covered  with  tall  and  thick  trees  of  great 
age,  fit  to  be  converted  into  the  best  kind  of  lum- 
ber, show  to-day  nothing  but  young  growth  of  trees 
that  will  not  be  ripe  for  market  in  a  great  many 
years.  Even  that  is  the  best  and  most  desirable 
case.  Far  oftener  the  trees  which  have  succeeded 


94    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  original  forest  are  of  different  and  inferior  spe- 
cies. Where  the  comparatively  valueless  poplars 
and  white  birches  or  the  despised  jack  pine  have 
taken  the  place  of  white  pine,  there  is  a  distinct 
loss  of  natural  wealth.  Still  worse  is  the  frequent 
case  where,  instead  of  young  trees  of  vigorous 
growth,  that  in  course  of  time  promise  a  good  crop 
of  lumber,  no  matter  of  what  species,  scattered 
clumps  of  scrubby  brushwood  cover  the  land.  All 
these  conditions  are  found  in  the  woodlands  of 
the  present,  where  the  original  forest  has  been 
cut ;  and  unfortunately  the  first  case  seems  to  be 
the  rarest. 

As  far  as  the  eastern  and  much  of  the  Pacific 
coast  forest  zones  are  concerned,  it  is  self-evident 
that,  under  any  circumstances  whatsoever,  the  first 
necessity  of  civilized  man  in  peopling  this  country 
was  to  get  rid  of  the  trees.  In  distinction  from 
the  prairie  country  and  the  Rocky  Mountain  for- 
ests, trees  covered  practically  all  the  land.  There 
would  have  been  no  room  for  men  to  dwell  in,  no 
room  for  cities  and  villages,  no  room  for  tilled  fields, 
— in  other  words,  no  chance  for  civilized  life, — if  the 
settlers  had  not  waged  relentless  war  against  the 
forest.  This  condition  still  exists  in  those  regions 
east  of  the  Mississippi  where  settlement  is  now  go- 
ing on, — as  in  Northern  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota,  as  well  as  in  parts  of  the  South.  Here 
the  first  necessity  of  the  settlers  still  is  to  destroy 
the  forest  and  to  make  farms  in  its  place.  This 
will  continue  to  be  the  case  as  long  as  there  are 


Destruction  and  Deterioration  95 

forest  covered  lands  valuable  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. No  power  on  earth,  under  our  form  of  gov- 
ernment, can  in  the  long  run  keep  these  lands  out  of 
the  reach  of  the  land-hungry  settler.  Nor  is  there 
any  good  reason  why  an  attempt  should  be  made  to 
preserve  forests  of  this  kind,  to  a  greater  extent 
than  the  farmers  themselves  are  doing  by  maintain- 
ing their  wood-lots,  provided  there  are  areas  of  for- 
ests elsewhere  sufficient  to  supply  our  national 
needs.  Let  it  be  remembered  :  Generally  speak- 
ing, farming  brings  a  larger  profit  from  land  than 
forestry,  except  on  the  poorer  soil.  Therefore,  no 
good  soils  should  be  kept  as  forest,  if  poor  lands 
are  to  be  had  for  that  purpose.  For  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  promotion  of  a  better  forest  policy 
on  the  part  of  our  public  authorities  this  point  is 
of  the  greatest  importance.  They  should  never 
lose  sight  of  it  in  their  advocacy  of  measures  and 
their  attempts  at  enlightening  the  public.  One  of 
the  commonest  objections  to  laws  for  the  protection 
of  the  forests  in  newly  settled  regions  is  the  plea 
that  it  would  retard  the  development  of  the  coun- 
try. It  would  keep  away  settlers.  People  living 
in  the  older  parts  of  the  country  can  form  no  idea 
of  the  importance  which  the  residents  of  new  dis- 
tricts attach  to  the  coming  of  new  settlers.  A  hun- 
dred new  families  taking  up  land  in  a  county  every 
year  is  the  condition  which  makes  every  business 
man  in  the  county  towns  prosperous.  If  immigra- 
tion stops,  bankruptcy  is  at  the  door.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  that  people  in  such  localities,  people  of 


96     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

intelligence  and  weight  in  the  community,  are  afraid 
of  anything  which  seems  to  interfere  with  the 
course  of  settlement.  Therefore  the  point  that 
agricultural  lands  are  not  wanted  for  forestry  must 
ever  be  emphasized  and  repeated. 

To  return  to  the  question  of  forest  disappear- 
ance, from  what  has  already  been  said  it  must 
be  clear  that  such  destruction  of  forests  as  is  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  the  nation  cannot  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  settler,  at  least  so  far  as  his  clear- 
ing of  wild  lands  for  legitimate  purposes  is  concerned. 
Must  it  then  be  charged  to  the  lumberman  ? 

At  first  blush  an  unqualified  "  Yes  "  seems  to  be 
the  proper  answer  to  this  question.  The  methods 
of  lumbering  in  this  country  have  been  from  the 
beginning  of  a  rough-and-ready  sort.  Lumbermen 
have  been  intent  to  convert  the  timber  standing  on 
their  holdings  into  cash  in  the  shortest  possible 
time  and  have  cared  little  what  became  of  the  land 
after  they  had  removed  such  timber  as  they  could 
find  a  profitable  market  for.  If  these  lands  could 
be  sold,  they  have  sold  them  for  what  they  would 
bring.  If  no  purchasers  were  on  hand,  they  have 
abandoned  them,  not  caring  even  to  pay  the  taxes. 
Where  lumbering  consisted  of  culling  a  few  trees 
of  marketable  species  from  among  the  mass  of 
others,  it  has  affected  the  original  condition  of  the 
forest  comparatively  little.  Where,  on  the  other 
hand,  lumbering  meant  cutting  practically  every 
tree  on  the  land,  as  in  these  latter  years  has 
been  done  in  the  pineries  of  the  Northwest,  a 


Destruction  and  Deterioration  97 

revolution  in  the  condition  of  the  land  has  been 
wrought  which  offers  to  the  forester  and  the  legis- 
lator perhaps  the  most  difficult  forestry  problem 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Rarely  did  the  lumberman 
bother  himself  about  the  future  supply  of  timber, 
or  its  reproduction.  The  most  he  did  was,  in  the 
early  days  when  small  logs  were  not  salable,  to 
leave  uncut  trees  of  less  than  twelve  inches.  To- 
day he  goes  over  the  same  lands  and  takes  what  he 
left  thirty  years  ago,  this  time  down  to  the  "  pole  " 
of  eight  inches  and  less  in  diameter.  This  is  what 
is  misnamed  second-growth  timber  in  many  parts  of 
Maine  and  the  Northwest. 

These  methods  were  rough,  no  doubt,  and  appar- 
ently irrational.  Yet  there  was  an  excuse  for  it. 
Lumbermen  did  not  do  business  for  the  benefit  of 
posterity  or  for  the  general  good.  Their  only  ob- 
ject was  to  reap  the  largest  possible  profit  in  the 
shortest  possible  time.  They  were  in  the  same 
condition  of  mind  with  practically  the  whole  people 
when  they  gave  no  thought  to  managing  their  forest 
property  in  such  a  way  as  to  provide  for  a  repro- 
duction of  their  crop.  That  the  whole  people  were 
regardless  of  such  provision  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  all  legislation  touching  the  public  lands, 
their  disposal  and  protection,  the  maintenance  of 
the  forests  growing  thereon  was,  until  within  a  very 
few  years,  absolutely  lost  sight  of. 

It  is,  then,  the  lumbermen  no  more  than  the  set- 
tlers who  must  bear  the  chief  blame  for  the  deteri- 
oration and  unnecessary  destruction  of  American 


98     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

forests.  The  greatest  burden  of  guilt  rests  on  our 
public  authorities,  which  is  only  another  way  of  say- 
ing that  it  lies  upon  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  question  of  the  relation  of  the  legisla- 
tive and  executive  authorities  of  the  country  to  the 
forestry  problem  is  treated  in  another  chapter.  But 
here  is  the  place  to  show  how,  through  the  almost 
utter  neglect  of  its  duty  to  take  proper  police  meas- 
ures, the  people  of  the  United  States  has  given  un- 
checked opportunities  for  the  work  of  the  worst 
enemy  of  our  forests,  an  enemy  that  has  caused  a 
great  part  of  the  undesirable  decrease  of  area  and 
nine  tenths  of  the  deterioration  in  value  of  the  area 
still  covered  with  woodland. 

Nearly  every  reader  must  have  guessed  by  this 
time  that  the  enemy  here  referred  to  is  the  fire. 
For,  unfortunately,  the  American  public  is  very 
familiar  with  forest  fires.  Not  a  year  elapses  when 
tales  of  disaster  from  this  source  in  one  part  or  an- 
other of  the  country  do  not  fill  the  columns  of  news- 
papers. If  this  familiarity  has  not  bred  contempt, 
it  has  at  least  caused  a  prevalent  belief  that  forest 
fires  are  inevitable  events,  incidental  to  the  exist- 
ence of  forests,  and  to  be  submitted  to  as  visitations 
of  Providence  against  which  one  can  guard  no  more 
than  against  tornadoes  and  earthquakes. 

Yet  this  belief  is  utterly  wrong.  No  proposition 
in  connection  with  American  forestry  is  better  es- 
tablished than  that  forest  fires,  practically  without 
exception,  are  the  result  of  human  agency.  It  is 
sometimes  said  that  lightning  causes  forest  fires. 


Destruction  and  Deterioration  99 

This  may  be  possible,  but  as  far  as  I  know  no  case 
of  such  origin  has  ever  been  actually  observed  and 
recorded.  One  popular  writer  repeats  after  the 
other  the  story  that  forest  fires  have  been  caused 
by  two  dry  branches  being  rubbed  against  each 
other  by  the  wind.  No  experienced  woodsman  or 
forester  will  believe  in  such  a  tale.  It  belongs  in 
the  same  category  as  the  two-headed  snake  and  the 
hybrid  between  the  rabbit  and  the  lizard. 

Fires  are  kindled  in  the  woods  constantly  for 
perfectly  legitimate  purposes.  Settlers  are  obliged 
to  get  rid  of  the  debris  in  clearing  by  burning  it ; 
cruisers,  hunters,  and  other  travellers  build  camp- 
fires.  Both  these  uses  of  fire  cannot  be  avoided. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country,  especially  towards 
the  South,  where  the  tree  growth  is  very  heavy, 
the  underbrush  is  fired  for  the  purpose  of  killing  the 
trees,  to  make  clearing  more  easy.  This  is  a  bad 
practice,  for  several  reasons,  and  should  be  discour- 
aged as  much  as  possible.  Still  less  to  be  com- 
mended is  the  custom  indulged  in  throughout 
much  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain  country,  in  the 
far  West,  and  possibly  elsewhere,  of  firing  the  dry 
covering  of  the  forest  floor  every  spring,  in  order 
to  produce  young  shoots  from  the  stumps,  promote 
the  growth  of  herbage,  and  uncover  the  acorn  and 
chestnut  mast  littering  the  ground.  All  this,  of 
course,  is  done  for  the  benefit  of  browsing  cattle, 
and  especially  that  pest  of  southern  woodlands,  the 
razor-back  hog.  Pasturing  cattle  in  forests  is  rarely 
an  economical  practice,  but  where  it  is  favored  by 


ioo    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

systematic  firing  of  the  woods  it  cannot  be  consid- 
ered but  evidence  of  low  standards  of  civilization 
on  the  part  of  a  population  that  allows  it. 

Where  fires  are  kindled  for  legitimate  purposes, 
where  due  precautions  are  taken  in  doing  so,  a  care- 
ful watch  kept  over  them,  and,  in  the  case  of  camp- 
fires,  where  they  are  put  out  before  campers  leave 
the  place,  there  is  no  need  of  their  doing  any  in- 
jury. But,  unfortunately,  such  careful  treatment  is 
not  very  frequent.  One  would  imagine  that  the 
settlers,  who  are  going  to  be  the  greatest  sufferers 
if  the  flames  get  beyond  control,  would  be  those 
most  careful  in  their  handling  of  fire.  The  con- 
trary is  true.  This  is  a  sad  commentary  on  human 
intelligence,  but  no  doubt  can  exist  of  the  fact. 
The  settlers  themselves  are  very  apt  to  deny  that 
fires  are  largely  caused  by  their  own  negligence. 
They  lay  the  blame  on  almost  anybody  else.  Some- 
times it  is  the  railroads  against  whom  the  charge 
is  made  ;  then  again  the  hunters  and  fishermen 
from  the  city  ;  where  Indians  are  present  they  get 
most  of  the  blame,  and  the  hated  tramp  never  es- 
capes condemnation.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  rail- 
ways used  to  be  very  careless  about  how  sparks 
from  their  locomotives  set  fire  to  brush  heaps  along 
the  road.  But  stringent  laws  were  passed  in  many 
States  requiring  them  to  keep  their  rights  of  way 
clear  of  debris;  heavy  judgments  for  damages  caused 
by  their  negligence  were  repeatedly  awarded  against 
them,  and  the  railways  have  learned  the  lesson. 
No  doubt  it  is  still  very  common  for  fires  to  start 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         101 

along  the  tracks,  not  in  forests  only,  but  on  the 
prairies  and  among  cultivated  fields.  But  they  are 
extinguished  almost  immediately  by  the  section 
crews,  or  even  by  the  train  hands  themselves.  It 
is  very  doubtful  whether  many  destructive  fires 
during  recent  years  have  been  caused  by  passing 
trains.  As  to  the  city  sportsmen,  they  are  mostly 
persons  of  not  a  little  intelligence  ;  they  have  heard 
a  good  deal  about  forest  fires,  and  are  rather  in- 
clined to  be  cautious.  Moreover,  they  are  usually 
accompanied  by  experienced  woodsmen  and  guides, 
who  see  to  it  that  fires  are  properly  handled.  As 
to  the  Indian,  no  doubt  little  good  can  be  expected 
of  most  of  his  race  ;  still  I  doubt  whether  he  is,  on 
the  whole,  more  reckless  than  the  white  settler. 
The  tramp,  to  be  sure,  may  fairly  be  charged  with 
all  iniquity,  for  he  stands  convicted  of  almost  every 
crime  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  his  kind  is  not  very  com- 
mon in  most  of  the  forest  regions.  So  the  attempt 
of  the  settler  to  shift  the  burden  on  other  shoulders 
must  fail,  and  the  fact  stands  out  clearly  that  his 
own  negligence  is  the  most  frequent  cause  of  the 
conflagration  of  which  he  is  apt  to  be  the  first 
victim. 

If  the  settlers  are  apt  to  be  reckless  in  their 
manner  of  kindling  and  guarding  fires,  they  are 
still  more  negligent  in  the  matter  of  extinguishing 
fires  that  have  arisen  in  one  way  or  the  other  and  are 
no  longer  being  used.  Nothing  is  a  more  common 
sight  almost  anywhere  within  the  larger  forests  of 
the  United  States  than  to  see  small  fires  smoulder- 


102     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

ing  along  the  roadsides  or  trails.  Yet  hardly  ever 
does  a  passer-by  take  the  trouble  of  putting  them 
out.  This  would  seem  to  argue  a  strange  moral 
defect  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
regions.  Would  any  decent  man  hesitate  to  put 
out  a  fire  he  saw  approaching  a  powder-mill  ?  Yet 
a  little  thought  will  convince  us  that  the  moral 
callousness  of  the  passers-by  is  only  apparent. 
They  are  merely  following  the  prudent  rule  of 
minding  their  own  business.  Fires  kindled  in  the 
woods,  intentionally  and  legitimately,  are  so  com- 
mon that  you  cannot  tell  but  what  the  roadside 
blaze  may  belong  to  this  class.  Its  originator  may 
be  in  the  immediate  vicinity  and  reappear  the  next 
minute  to  watch  the  flames.  In  such  a  case  would 
not  the  officious  stranger  who  put  them  out  be 
like  the  man  who  forcibly  kept  a  bather  from  going 
into  the  water,  in  the  belief  that  he  was  saving  an 
unfortunate  fellow-man  from  suicide  ? 

Most  fires,  even  if  left  entirely  to  themselves,  go 
out  after  a  while  of  their  own  accord,  without 
having  spread  over  more  than  a  few  feet  of  ground, 
or  having  done  appreciable  damage.  Green  vegeta- 
tion is  not  a  good  food  for  flames,  and  is  rarely 
consumed  except  by  fires  of  very  great  dimensions 
and  consequently  enormous  heat.  In  places  where 
there  is  no  large  accumulation  of  dry,  dead  material 
the  danger  is  consequently  insignificant.  It  is 
but  a  small  part  of  the  fires  that  ever  spread  at  all, 
and  even  those  which  assume  large  proportions 
soon  come  to  a  stop.  The  great  disasters  so  often 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         103 

recurring  are  not  usually  the  work  of  a  single  fire, 
but  of  numerous  small  fires  burning  throughout  the 
district. 

Ordinarily,  during  a  dry  season,  there  are  many 
small  fires  burning  in  all  the  forest  regions  of  the 
country,  but  especially  where  lumbering  is  actively 
carried  on,  or  where  clearing  for  settlement  is  rap- 
idly progressing.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
coniferous  forests,  while  broad-leaved  woods  are 
comparatively  exempt  from  fire. 

The  odor  of  smouldering  pine  wood  is  one  of  the 
most  familiar  sense  impressions  one  experiences  in 
such  districts.  Its  pungency  is  very  characteristic 
of  the  pineries,  and  never  to  be  forgotten  by  one 
who  has  once  noticed  it.  These  low  smouldering 
fires  show  very  little  flame.  In  the  daytime,  at 
least,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  but  smoke,  a  dense, 
blue  or  grayish  cloud  rising  towards  heaven  and 
gradually  taking  a  paler  hue  as  it  disperses  in  the 
air.  At  night,  one  sees  the  fire  itself  gleaming 
afar,  close  to  the  ground,  without  tongues  of  flame 
breaking  forth,  but  rather  looking  like  a  pile  of 
glowing  coals.  Very  often  the  fire  is  located  in  a 
stump  of  pine,  or  in  a  fallen  log.  In  these  cases  it 
rarely  spreads  to  the  surroundings.  The  grass  and 
litter  for  a  foot  or  so  surrounding  the  seat  of  the 
fire  is  quickly  consumed,  marking  a  charred,  black 
circle.  But  thereafter  this  zone  of  charred  litter 
acts  as  a  confining  band,  across  which,  under  ordi- 
nary conditions,  the  fire  cannot  spread  to  attack  the 
vegetation  beyond.  Thus  the  stump  or  log  is 


104    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

slowly  converted  into  charcoal.  The  smouldering 
may  go  on  for  days  or  weeks ;  if  rain  comes,  the 
fire  is  quickly  extinguished.  Otherwise  it  burns 
on  till  the  whole  is  consumed. 

This  is  the  ordinary  progress  of  a  neglected  fire 
of  this  kind.  But  far  otherwise  is  its  history  when, 
during  a  long  drought,  a  wind  fans  the  smouldering 
fires  into  active,  leaping  flames.  During  those  long, 
oppressive  summer  days,  when  day  after  day  the  re- 
lentless sun  beats  down,  even  the  dense  shade  of  the 
broad-leaved  trees  no  longer  suffices  to  keep  the 
forest  floor  damp  and  cool.  In  the  pine  woods, 
the  heat  becomes  stifling.  The  litter  of  needles  on 
the  ground  becomes  as  dry  as  sand.  The  cushions 
of  moss  lose  their  softness  and  turn  brittle,  so  that 
you  can  rub  them  to  powder  between  your  fingers. 
On  the  open  slashings  the  soil  dries  up  and  the  litter 
of  dry  branches,  tree  tops,  and  other  debris  left  by 
the  lumbermen  during  the  preceding  winter  becomes 
so  dry  that  the  first  spark  must  set  the  whole 
ablaze.  Small  fires  multiply  everywhere,  for  every 
day  new  ones  start,  and  there  is  no  rain  to  put  out 
the  old  ones.  The  smoke  begins  to  fill  the  at- 
mosphere, and  there  is  a  dark  grayish  haze  over  all 
distant  prospects,  quite  indescribable  and  entirely 
different  from  the  silvery  haze  caused  by  light 
mists,  or  the  ordinary  blue  produced  by  the  mere 
distance.  The  pungent  smoky  odor  penetrates 
everywhere.  In  the  villages  and  towns  it  enters 
houses,  causing  the  women  to  look  with  dismay  at 
the  lace  curtains  before  the  windows. 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         105 

As  yet  there  is  no  danger.  Here,  and  there, 
fanned  by  light  winds,  the  fire  begins  to  run  along 
the  ground,  eating  up  the  litter,  grass,  and  herbage, 
coloring  the  lower  portions  of  the  tree  trunks  black, 
and  destroying  the  humus,  sometimes  to  a  great 
depth.  These  small  fires  seldom  spread  over  more 
than  a  few  acres.  They  really  do  untold  damage, 
more,  perhaps,  in  the  aggregate  than  the  great  blazes 
destroying  live  trees.  For,  especially  if  they  recur 
year  after  year  in  the  same  place,  they  prevent  the 
propagation  of  trees  by  killing  the  seeds  or  seed- 
lings. They  also  render  the  soil  infertile  by  de- 
stroying the  organic  matter  contained  in  it.  But  to 
the  settler  this  kind  of  fire  seems  hardly  worth  men- 
tioning. If  the  blaze  comes  too  near  his  fences,  he 
attempts  to  put  it  out  or  check  its  spread.  If  it  is 
burning  far  away,  on  the  pine  slashings,  he  lets  it 
burn. 

Still,  as  the  days  go  by  and  the  smoke  becomes 
denser  and  denser,  as  at  night  the  villages  seem  to 
be  surrounded  by  the  camp-fires  of  hostile  armies 
on  all  the  neighboring  hills,  the  people  of  the  towns 
begin  to  be  anxious  about  what  may  be  coming. 
The  railway  crews,  as  they  come  in  on  each  train, 
begin  to  tell  about  fires  along  the  line.  Then 
"  homesteaders,"  whose  log  cabins  are  in  the  most 
remote  fastnesses  of  the  wilderness,  come  into  town 
with  tales  of  distress.  The  fire  has  reached  their 
clearing  ;  without  the  aid  of  neighbors,  who  may  be 
miles  away,  anxious  about  their  own  safety,  the 
homesteader,  with  his  wife  and  older  children,  has 


io6  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

made  a  hard  fight  for  his  property.  But  in  vain  ; 
his  cabin,  with  what  little  furniture  he  possessed, 
with  the  family  clothing  and  the  provisions  that 
were  to  keep  them  alive,  have  been  consumed 
by  the  fire.  With  his  little  children  on  his  arm, 
followed  by  the  older  boys  and  the  wife  carrying 
the  baby,  he  trudges  along  the  trail  through  the 
hot,  stifling,  smoke-filled  wood  to  the  village.  The 
people  of  the  town  relieve  the  distress  of  their 
stricken  fellows  and  go  to  bed  thanking  God  that 
still  they  are  safe. 

But  there  comes  an  evening  when  nobody  thinks 
of  going  to  bed.  All  day  the  smoke  has  become 
denser  and  denser,  until  it  is  no  longer  a  haze,  but  a 
thick,  yellowish  mass  of  vapor,  carrying  large  parti- 
cles of  sooty  cinders,  filling  one's  eyes  and  nostrils 
with  biting  dust,  making  breathing  oppressive. 
There  is  no  escape  from  it.  Closing  windows  and 
doors  does  not  bar  it  out  of  the  houses  ;  it  seems  as 
if  it  could  penetrate  solid  walls.  Everything  it 
touches  feels  rough,  as  if  covered  with  fine  ashes. 
The  heat  is  horrible,  although  no  ray  of  sunshine 
penetrates  the  heavy  pall  of  smoke. 

In  the  distance  a  rumbling,  rushing  sound  is 
heard.  It  is  the  fire  roaring  in  the  tree  tops  on 
the  hillsides,  several  miles  from  town.  This  is  no 
longer  a  number  of  small  fires,  slowly  smouldering 
away  to  eat  up  a  fallen  log ;  nor  little,  dancing 
flames,  running  along  the  dry  litter  on  the  ground, 
trying  to  creep  up  the  bark  of  a  tree,  where  the 
lichens  are  thick  and  dry,  but  presently  falling  back 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         107 

exhausted.  The  wind  has  risen,  fanning  the  flames 
on  all  sides,  till  they  leap  higher  and  higher,  reach- 
ing the  lower  branches  of  the  standing  timber,  en- 
veloping the  mighty  boles  of  cork  pine  in  a  sheet 
of  flame,  seizing  the  tall  poles  of  young  trees  and 
converting  them  into  blazing  beacons  that  herald 
the  approach  of  destruction.  Fiercer  and  fiercer 
blows  the  wind,  generated  by  the  fire  itself  as  it 
sends  currents  of  heated  air  rushing  upward  into 
infinity.  Louder  and  louder  the  cracking  of  the 
branches  as  the  flames  seize  one  after  the  other, 
leaping  from  crown  to  crown,  rising  high  above  the 
tree  tops  in  whirling  wreaths  of  fire,  and  belching 
forth  clouds  of  smoke  hundreds  of  feet  still  higher. 
As  the  heated  air  rises  more  and  more,  rushing 
along  with  a  sound  like  that  of  a  thousand  foaming 
mountain  torrents,  burning  brands  are  carried 
along,  whirling  on  across  the  firmament  like  evil 
spirits  of  destruction,  bearing  the  fire  miles  away 
from  its  origin,  then  falling  among  the  dry  brush- 
heaps  of  windfall  or  slashing,  and  starting  another 
fire  to  burn  as  fiercely  as  the  first. 

In  the  village  there  is  a  suppressed  excitement. 
Little  is  said  by  anybody.  Every  man  and  woman 
is  busy  preparing  for  the  worst.  The  sawmill  has 
shut  down,  and  the  hands  are  busy  refilling  the 
water  barrels  on  the  roof ;  the  merchants  put  bar- 
rels of  water  in  front  of  their  stores,  and  get  pails 
handy.  In  the  dwelling-houses  similar  preparations 
are  made.  Women  pack  their  clothes  and  valua- 
bles into  trunks  and  boxes.  The  captain  and 


io8    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

members  of  the  volunteer  fire  brigade  get  their 
apparatus  into  readiness,  although  they  doubt 
whether  it  will  be  of  much  effect  if  the  flames  reach 
the  town. 

Down  at  the  railway  depot  the  telegraph  opera- 
tor sits  at  his  instrument,  "  talking  "  to  the  people 
"  down  the  line,"  in  the  happy  places  far  from  forest 
fires.  He  tells  them  that  fires  are  surrounding  the 
village  on  all  sides ;  there  is  danger  of  the  town 
being  reached  to-night.  Several  small  blazes, 
caused  by  flying  brands,  have  already  occurred  but 
been  quickly  put  out.  Many  of  the  settlers  in  the 
surrounding  country  have  come  into  the  town, 
after  having  lost  all  their  goods.  There  is  a  ru- 
mor that  several  persons  have  perished,  but  as  yet 
it  is  unconfirmed.  Suddenly  the  clicking  of  the 
receiver  ceases — the  connection  has  been  inter- 
rupted, undoubtedly  by  the  fire.  Still  he  can  tele- 
graph by  the  other  end  of  the  line — until  that  also 
ceases.  Now  the  village  is  cut  off  from  all  the 
world,  except,  thank  heaven,  for  the  night  train. 
If  that  goes  through  safely,  and  the  fire  has  reached 
us  by  that  time,  a  relief  train  can  be  up  here  by 
to-morrow  noon. 

As  night  comes,  the  flames  in  the  distance  be- 
come more  visible,  and  now  it  is  seen  that  there 
are  fires  on  each  side  of  the  city.  The  fire  on  the 
west  threatens  the  greatest  danger,  for  from  that 
direction  the  wind  is  blowing.  On  the  east  side 
the  road  to  the  lake,  two  miles  away,  is  open. 
There  is  hard  wood  in  that  direction,  until  you  get 


Destruction  and  Deterioration          109 

to  the  tamarack  swamp  along  the  shore.  A  boy 
has  been  down  there  and  reports  that  there  is  some 
fire  in  the  swamp,  but  otherwise  the  road  is  clear. 
Horses  are  being  hitched  up,  wagons  loaded  with 
household  stuff,  everything  brought  into  readiness 
to  take  flight  to  the  comparative  safety  of  the  hard- 
wood tract.  If  that  also  should  succumb  to  the 
fire,  then  there  will  be  no  safety  except  in  the  lake. 
From  the  west,  the  wind  brings  the  fire  nearer  and 
nearer.  It  does  not  travel  fast  like  the  sweep  of  a 
prairie  fire.  There  is  something  horrible  in  the 
slow,  steady  approach  of  a  top  fire.  It  comes  on 
with  the  pitiless  determination  of  unavoidable  des- 
tiny, not  faster,  perhaps,  than  a  man  can  walk. 
But  there  is  no  stopping  it.  You  can  fight  a  ground 
fire,  by  trying  to  beat  it  out  with  brush,  or  throw- 
ing earth  upon  it.  You  cannot  fight  a  fire  that 
seizes  tree  top  after  tree  top,  far  above  your  reach, 
and  showers  down  upon  the  pygmy  mortals  that 
attempt  to  oppose  it  an  avalanche  of  burning 
branches,  driving  them  away  to  escape  the  torture 
and  death  that  threatens  them. 

By  midnight  the  fire  has  reached  the  village. 
The  first  houses,  standing  as  they  do  in  the  midst 
of  forest  trees  on  their  lots  that  were  partially 
cleared  but  a  few  months  ago,  are  quickly  consumed. 
Each  man  in  the  village  is  straining  every  nerve  to 
protect  the  houses  which  at  each  particular  moment 
are  most  in  immediate  danger.  But  all  is  without 
avail.  Building  after  building  is  rapidly  turned 
into  a  smoking  pile  of  ashes.  The  heat,  the  smoke, 


no    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  excessive  labor  are  beginning  to  exhaust  the 
workers.  There  is  one  hope  left.  The  little  river 
and  the  vacant  places  on  both  sides  of  it  may  check 
the  advance  of  the  fire.  Vain  hope  !  Firebrands 
soon  carry  the  destruction  to  the  other  side,  and 
the  very  ground  in  the  open  spaces  carries  the  fire 
along,  for  it  is  mostly  sawdust  and  other  refuse  of 
the  lumber-mill.  Now  there  is  nothing  left  but 
retreat.  When  the  morning  breaks,  the  people  of 
the  village  and  the  many  families  of  settlers  who 
came  in  from  the  woods  the  preceding  day  find 
themselves  huddled  together  in  the  adjoining  hard- 
wood tract,  which  happily  opposes  an  effective 
barrier  to  the  progress  of  the  flames. 

But  not  all  are  there.  Many  have  perished  in 
the  flames  or  been  smothered  to  death  by  the 
smoke.  What  need  of  dwelling  on  the  harassing 
scenes  accompanying  such  disasters  ?  The  next 
day  the  relief  trains  come  and  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people — which  is  more  ready  to  try  by 
lavish  outlay  to  heal  wounds  after  they  are  made 
than  to  prevent  them  by  wise  forethought — open  to 
the  sufferers  and  relieve  their  necessities. 

Such  descriptions  as  these  are  no  pictures  of 
fancy.  Not  a  year  passes  when  forest  fires  do  not 
cause  losses  of  life  and  destroy  the  habitations  of 
industrious  settlers.  From  time  to  time  horrible 
calamities,  with  enormous  losses  of  life,  occur,  and 
send  a  thrill  of  horror  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  Of  such  calamities,  the  worst  that  is  on 
record  is  that  known  as  the  Peshtigo  fire,  which, 


Destruction  and  Deterioration          m 

in  1871,  during  the  same  month  of  October  when 
Chicago  was  laid  in  ashes,  devastated  the  coun- 
try about  the  shores  of  Green  Bay,  in  Wisconsin. 
More  than  three  million  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty was  burnt,  at  least  two  thousand  families  of 
settlers  were  made  homeless,  villages  were  de- 
stroyed, and  over  a  thousand  lives  lost.  The  next 
greatest  forest  fire  was  that  of  1881,  in  the  Saginaw 
region  of  Michigan.  After  having  burned  here  and 
there  in  the  usual  manner  for  weeks,  it  became  un- 
controllable on  September  5th,  when  many  of  the 
separate  blazes  united  into  one  immense  sea  of 
flame  that  swept  resistlessly  over  the  counties  of 
Huron  and  Sanilac,  as  well  as  portions  of  adjoin- 
ing counties.  About  eighteen  hundred  square  miles 
were  involved  in  ruin,  and  in  a  large  portion  of  this 
territory  the  flames  made  a  clean  sweep  of  trees,  as 
well  as  crops,  fences,  houses,  bridges,  and  every- 
thing of  an  inflammable  nature,  turning  the  land 
temporarily  into  a  desert.  The  total  loss  in  prop- 
erty, aside  from  standing  timber  and  injury  to  the 
soil,  was  estimated  at  over  two  millions  of  dollars. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-eight  persons,  many  of 
them  women  and  children,  perished  in  the  flames. 
The  relief  sent  to  the  sufferers  by  the  people  of 
the  entire  country,  in  addition  to  large  quantities 
of  supplies,  amounted  to  $1,006,102.47. 

In  regard  to  the  loss  of  life,  few  forest  fires  have 
been  more  appalling  than  that  which,  in  1894,  de- 
vastated the  country  southwest  of  Duluth,  Minn., 
and  is  usually  known  as  the  Hinckley  fire.  Over 


ii2     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

400  persons  were  killed  in  the  holocaust,  233  of 
them  in  the  village  of  Hinckley  alone.  At  the 
same  time  the  flourishing  city  of  Phillips,  in  Wis- 
consin, was  also  destroyed,  and  numerous  persons 
perished,  while  many  others  were  saved  only  by 
plunging  into  the  waters  of  the  little  lake  on  the 
banks  of  which  the  city  stands. 

With  the  happy  buoyancy  characteristic  of  the 
American  people,  and  so  quickly  caught  by  the  im- 
migrants from  foreign  lands,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
regions  where  forest  fires  are  of  common  occur- 
rence have  been  quick  to  discover  that  the  fires 
are  not  an  unmixed  evil.  It  is  said  that  they  help 
to  clear  the  land  and  make  it  easier  for  settlers  to 
establish  their  farms.  In  a  sense,  this  is  true,  and 
it  might  be  added  also  that  settlers,  if  they  happen 
to  burn  out  during  the  first  few  years  after  they 
have  taken  up  their  land,  often  find  themselves  bet- 
ter off  than  before  as  soon  as  the  inconvenience  of 
the  first  houseless  days  is  over.  They  are  quickly 
provided  with  new  clothing,  furniture,  supplies,  and 
other  necessaries ;  their  log  cabins  are  quickly  re- 
built, without  cost  to  themselves  ;  not  rarely  seed 
corn  and  potatoes  are  provided  by  appropriation 
out  of  the  public  treasury,  and  a  year  after  the  fire 
the  stricken  settler  is  again  on  the  road  to  prosper- 
ity. While  this  hopefulness  and  moral  elasticity  is 
of  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  forest  regions,  it  unfortunately  also  has  a 
tendency  to  keep  them  from  really  appreciating  the 
seriousness  of  the  injury  done  by  fire  to  our  national 


Destruction  and  Deterioration          113 

wealth.  The  lumbermen  appreciate  this  serious- 
ness, for  they  derive  none  of  the  incidental  benefits 
from  the  fires.  But  as  a  rule  the  settlers  do  not. 
Nothing  is  more  frequently  heard  than  the  expres- 
sion that  forest  fires  are  really  at  the  bottom  a  good 
thing.  Naturally,  this  state  of  mind  makes  it  diffi- 
cult to  convince  the  voters  of  the  desirability  of 
taking  steps  for  the  prevention  and  extinction 
of  fires,  and  especially  of  incurring  the  unavoidable 
expense  connected  therewith. 

Another  frequent  view  of  the  question  on  the  part 
of  settlers  is  that  there  is  but  one  way  to  get  rid  of 
fires,  and  that  is  to  get  rid  of  the  forest.  Both  this  and 
the  preceding  opinion  are,  of  course,  utterly  selfish, 
narrow,  and  short-sighted.  But  most  people,  from 
ignorance  and  moral  obliquity,  see  only  those  sides 
of  the  question  which  immediately  touch  them  in 
their  own  personal  affairs.  Consequently,  these 
opinions  among  the  people  are  hard  to  combat,  and 
they  constitute  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to 
the  passage  of  proper  fire-police  laws. 

As  far  as  the  injury  done  by  forest  fires  to  farm 
and  village  property  is  concerned,  this  subject  is 
really  but  indirectly  connected  with  forestry.  The 
modifications  undergone  by  the  methods  of  lumber- 
ing on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  fire,  and  the 
measures  calculated  to  guard  against  destruction 
by  fires,  are  treated  in  other  chapters  of  this  book. 
Here  is  the  place  to  speak  of  the  injury  done  to  the 
value  and  condition  of  the  growing  forests.  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  stated  that  a  systematic 


ii4    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

study  of  this  question  has  never  yet  been  made. 
Scattered  observations  are  found  throughout  the 
voluminous  forestry  literature  of  the  country,  but 
much  remains  to  be  learned  by  actual  detailed 
study  in  the  field. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  origin  of 
practically  every  forest  fire  is  by  the  negligence  of 
human  beings.  Such  negligence,  however,  would 
find  nothing  to  act  upon  if  it  were  not  for  the 
enormous  quantity  of  dry,  inflammable  litter  which 
accumulates  in  the  uncared-for  forests  of  our 
country.  Enormous  brush  heaps,  consisting  of  the 
tops  and  branches  of  felled  trees,  are  left  by  the 
lumbermen  lying  on  the  ground  to  dry ;  every 
windfall  causes  an  even  worse  tangle  of  drying 
sticks  ;  in  many  forms  of  vegetation  a  large  amount 
of  thin,  dry  twigs  accumulates  on  the  ground  as  the 
trees  gradually  clear  themselves  of  their  lower 
branches.  In  the  Lake  region  tamarack  and  cedar 
swamps  are  one  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of 
fires.  Many  of  these  swamps  are  rapidly  drying 
in  the  natural  course  of  their  life-history.  In  fact, 
many  tamarack  thickets  in  that  section  no  longer  de- 
serve the  name  swamp.  The  cushions  of  sphagnum 
and  other  mosses,  which  in  these  swamps  often  reach 
a  thickness  of  several  feet,  become  dry  every  sum- 
mer, and  in  this  condition  are  as  easily  set  afire  as 
a  pile  of  loose  cotton.  The  Phillips  fire  started  in 
a  drying  tamarack  swamp  just  west  of  the  city. 

As  a  general  rule,  fires  do  little  harm  to  hard- 
wood forests,  although  occasionally  the  flames 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         115 

from  adjoining  coniferous  areas  spread  and  destroy 
the  broad-leaved  trees.  In  all  parts  of  the  country, 
coniferous  trees,  the  pines  and  spruces  and  their 
kin,  are  most  liable  to  fire.  One  must  not  imagine 
that  a  single  fire  often  destroys  large  quantities  of 
large,  vigorous  timber.  Top  fires, — that  is,  fires 
which  reach  the  crowns  of  trees,  spread  from  branch 
to  branch,  and  consume  the  whole  tree,  leaving  at 
most  a  charred,  dead  remnant  of  the  trunk  stand- 
ing upright  like  a  blackened  ruin  until  the  wind 
overthrows  it, — are  the  exception.  The  ordinary 
fire  is  a  surface  fire,  eating  up  the  litter  on  the 
ground,  the  feebler  undergrowth,  and  the  young 
trees,  and  only  scorching  more  or  less  severely  the 
large  timber.  If  a  fire  of  this  nature  is  very  hot 
it  may  even  kill  the  large  trees,  without,  however, 
consuming  them.  In  such  a  case,  much  of  the 
timber  can  be  saved  if  it  is  cut  at  once,  before 
fungi  and  insects  have  destroyed  the  wood.  Fires 
of  this  kind  do  their  greatest  harm  by  making 
it  impossible  for  trees  to  reproduce  themselves, 
because  the  young  trees  are  killed  or  even  the 
seeds  destroyed  in  the  ground.  It  is  remarkable, 
by  the  way,  how  much  heat  some  tree  seeds  can 
stand.  The  cones  of  the  jack  pine  (Pinus  divari- 
cata,  Ait),  for  instance,  remain  on  the  trees  some- 
times for  several  years  without  shedding  their 
seeds.  When  a  fire  burns  over  the  ground,  the 
heat  causes  the  cones  to  open,  and  the  seeds  fall 
on  the  hot  ground.  Yet  these  scorched  seeds  often 
survive  and  bring  forth  seedlings. 


n6    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

The  injury  to  seedlings  and  young  trees  is  even 
greater  in  places  where  the  old  trees  have  been 
removed  than  it  is  under  the  growing  timber.  In 
the  latter  places,  reproduction  is  often  prevented 
or  hindered  by  other  causes,  even  if  no  fire  inter- 
venes. But  on  all  detimbered  areas  there  should 
naturally  come  up  a  new  forest  growth,  either  of 
the  original  or  different  species.  These  cut-over 
tracts,  however,  are  the  very  ones  where  fires  are 
most  common.  During  the  first  dry  season,  often 
in  the  very  spring  after  the  timber  has  been 
cut,  the  debris  left  by  the  lumbermen  is  burned. 
Thereafter,  for  a  number  of  years,  the  danger  of 
fire  annually  running  over  the  tract  is  very  great. 
The  soil  is  very  quickly  covered  with  rank  grass 
and  herbage,  which  in  the  fall  dries  up  and  be- 
comes very  inflammable.  Few  seedling  trees, 
coming  up  amid  this  tangle,  remain  alive  after 
even  one  such  scorching.  After  the  trees  have 
passed  the  seedling  stage,  still  the  danger  is  not 
over.  For  although  the  young  trees  coming  up 
may  be  largely  of  broad-leaved  varieties,  what  was 
said  of  the  comparative  immunity  of  hard  woods 
refers  to  old  timber  and  not  to  young  trees.  While 
the  latter  remain  in  the  sapling  stage,  they  are  liable 
to  have  their  foliage  destroyed,  even  if  the  stems 
escape  serious  injury.  It  stands  to  reason  that  such 
loss  of  foliage  interferes  with  the  healthy  growth  of 
the  tree,  and,  if  often  repeated,  must  kill  it.  In  any 
event,  there  is  danger  of  the  trees  remaining  value- 
less runts  instead  of  producing  tall,  clean  timber. 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         117 

After  a  fire  has  killed  brushwood  or  a  body  of 
standing  timber  the  scene  is  one  of  dreary  desola- 
tion. The  ground  is  thickly  covered  with  gray 
ashes  or  black  cinders.  Charred  branches  and 
trunks,  some  of  the  latter  still  standing  erect, 
others  strewing  the  ground  in  wild  confusion,  is  all 
that  remains  of  the  once  green  forest.  But  nature 
does  not  long  leave  her  nakedness  uncovered. 
Grasses  and  herbs  of  various  kinds  at  once  begin 
to  sprout,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  few  of  the 
varieties  appearing  on  the  burnt-over  places  are 
identical  with  those  growing  on  the  floor  of  the 
forest  while  it  was  still  standing.  The  species 
which  appear  on  such  burnt  areas  differ,  of  course, 
very  much  according  to  the  part  of  the  country  and 
the  nature  of  the  locality.  One  would  not  expect 
the  same  vegetation  to  cover  the  slashings  in 
Maine,  in  North  Carolina,  in  Wisconsin,  and  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  But  everywhere  there  are  some 
characteristic  plants  that  mark  the  place  where 
the  fire  has  been,  and  these  plants  have  often  been 
popularly  distinguished  as  fire-weeds.  One  of  the 
most  widely  spread  is  a  tall  plant  with  showy,  pur- 
ple flowers,  called  Epilobium  angustifolium  by  the 
scientists.  When  it  is  in  blossom  it  imparts  a  great 
splendor  of  color  to  the  tracts  it  covers  in  large 
masses.  The  little  red  cherry  shrub  known  as 
Prumis  pennsylvanica  is  called  fire  cherry  in  Wis- 
consin, and  probably  elsewhere,  because  it  is  always 
found  on  burnt  tracts.  Blackberries  and  rasp- 
berries are  apt  to  follow  the  fire.  In  the  meantime, 


n8    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

while  these  smaller  plants  are  vigorously  spreading, 
the  seedlings  of  trees  are  struggling  upward  be- 
neath the  tangled  mass,  sometimes  protected  by 
their  shade,  at  other  times  hindered  by  their  rank 
growth.  After  a  while  they  are  sure  to  win,  and 
as  they  raise  their  tops  over  the  weeds,  they  in 
turn  begin  to  shade  the  ground,  and  the  first 
comers  gradually  die  off  because  they  no  longer 
get  sufficient  sunlight.  Now,  if  the  fires  keep  off, 
there  is  no  reason  why  in  the  course  of  time  a  new 
forest  should  not  grow  up,  with  trees  as  tall  and 
vigorous  as  in  the  old  one.  But,  unfortunately,  in 
most  parts  of  the  country  the  fire  does  not  keep  off. 
During  all  the  younger  stages  of  the  new  growth 
the  soil  remains  covered  with  much  inflammable 
material,  and  oft-repeated  scorchings  prevent  the 
trees  from  ever  becoming  tall  and  healthy.  In  this 
way,  what  was  originally  fine  forest,  producing 
valuable  merchantable  timber,  is  in  many  cases 
succeeded  by  a  wilderness  of  shrubs  and  stunted 
trees,  hardly  good  enough  to  furnish  fire-wood. 

Recapitulating  what  has  been  stated  regarding 
the  influence  of  fire  upon  the  extent  and  value  of 
American  forests,  it  may  be  said  :  Fire  reduces  the 
extent  of  forest  area  by  destroying  growing  timber ; 
it  prevents  reproduction  of  forest  by  deteriorating 
the  soil,  killing  seeds  and  consuming  seedlings ; 
and  it  deteriorates  the  value  of  existing  woodlands 
by  hindering  the  vigorous  and  healthy  development 
of  trees.  Which  of  these  three  forms  of  injury  is 
most  prominent  depends  on  the  section  of  country, 


Destruction  and  Deterioration         119 

the  topography,  the  character  of  the  forest,  and 
many  other  conditions.  A  detailed  study  of  these 
considerations  would  far  exceed  the  limitations  of 
this  volume. 

Another  factor  in  the  struggle  for  life  of  the 
American  forests  has  hardly  yet  been  mentioned. 
That  is  the  injury  done  by  the  pasturing  of  domes- 
tic animals.  This  source  of  injury  is  neither  so 
wide-spread  nor  so  picturesque  as  the  damage  done 
by  fire.  Yet  in  some  localities  it  is  an  equally 
great  obstacle  to  profitable  forest  cultivation.  In 
the  Lake  region  it  is  of  comparatively  small  im- 
portance, for  the  reason  that  the  tracts  where  the 
farm  cattle  go  are  usually  among  those  which  will 
soon  be  cleared  and  converted  into  fields.  But  in 
the  mountain  forests  of  the  Rockies  and  the  Paci- 
fic coast,  where  immense  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep 
are  pastured,  the  injury  done  to  the  small  trees  by 
the  biting  off  of  young  shoots,  the  tearing  down  of 
branches,  and  the  trampling  down  of  seedlings  is 
enormous.  In  the  great  forest  reserves  recently 
set  apart  in  that  section  by  the  federal  government, 
the  herding  of  animals  is  now  permitted  only  under 
strict  rules  designed  to  reduce  the  damage  to  a 
minimum,  to  the  great  disgust,  however,  of  the 
cattle  owners,  who,  like  other  people,  can  see  but 
their  own  interests  and  cannot  be  convinced  that 
other  people,  and  especially  the  nation  as  a  whole, 
have  rights  in  the  matter.  In  the  Alleghany  region, 
and  especially  those  portions  which  are  thinly  set- 
tled by  a  poor  and  ignorant  class  of  farmers,  but 


120    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

where  agricultural  development  is  not  likely  to 
continue,  much  damage  is  done  by  cattle,  and  es- 
pecially by  hogs,  which  tear  up  the  ground  and 
destroy  seedlings  and  tree  roots.  The  abominable 
practice  of  annual  firing  of  the  undergrowth,  so 
prevalent  in  this  section,  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. In  the  miniature  forestry  operations  of 
the  farm  timber-lot  throughout  the  great  agricul- 
tural States  east  of  the  Mississippi  the  pasturing  of 
cattle  also  plays  its  vicious  part  and  is  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  deterioration  which  so  many  of  these 
small  forests  are  undergoing. 

From  all  the  facts  which  have  been  briefly  con- 
sidered in  this  chapter  the  following  main  conclu- 
sions may  be  drawn.  Taking  the  North  American 
continent  as  a  whole,  the  decrease  of  area  covered 
with  forest  growth,  while  considerable,  is  not  such 
as  to  warrant  alarm.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  country  existing  forests 
are  rapidly  deteriorating  in  value  as  sources  of 
wealth  and  foundations  for  the  numerous  industries 
dependent  on  forest  products  as  their  raw  material. 
These  conclusions  should  be  firmly  held  in  mind 
for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  forestry  problem. 


CHAPTER    VI 

FORESTS   AND    FORESTRY 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  book  we  have 
attempted,  in  a  necessarily  faint  outline,  to  de- 
scribe the  character  of  the  American  forest  in  the 
various  sections  of  our  continent ;  the  part  it  plays 
in  the  economic  and  social  life  of  the  nation  ;  its 
history,  as  determined  by  the  forces  of  nature  and 
modified  by  the  activity  of  man.  The  last-named 
feature  forms  a  natural  transition  to  the  second 
part  of  the  subject-matter  of  this  volume,  Ameri- 
can forestry. 

To  the  great  mass  of  the  American  public  the 
word  forestry  conveys  but  an  indistinct  meaning. 
Not  rarely  it  is  said  that  forestry  is  something  new 
in  this  country.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from 
the  truth.  It  is  the  word  that  is  comparatively 
new,  but  the  thing  itself  is  as  old  as  human  life  on 
this  continent.  With  the  same  truth  could  it  be 
said  that  agriculture  is  something  new  in  this 
country  because  agricultural  colleges  and  experi- 
ment stations  are  but  a  generation  old,  as  to  say 
that  forestry  is  new  because  only  within  the  last 
few  years  has  it  been  systematically  and  scientifi- 
cally treated  in  the  United  States. 

121 


122    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

For  let  it  be  understood  as  clearly  as  the  Eng- 
lish language  can  express  it :  Forestry  is  not,  as 
many  imagine,  the  science  or  natural  history  of 
woodlands ;  nor  is  it  the  art  of  planting  trees  ;  nor 
that  of  preserving  woodlands.  It  embraces  all 
these  things,  or  at  least  special  phases  of  them 
are  required  in  its  practice.  But  it  is  made  up  of 
many  things  besides.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten 
that  forestry  as  such  is  not  a  matter  for  poets,  art- 
ists, or  sentimentalists,  nor  even  for  lovers  of  sport 
with  rod  and  gun.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
forester  should  not  be  a  lover  of  the  beauty  of 
woodland  scenery.  Very  often  he  is,  but  not  by 
virtue  of  his  being  a  forester,  but  because  he  is  a 
man  of  wide  and  liberal  culture  and  with  strong 
esthetic  sensibilities. 

If  forestry  is  not  all  this,  what  under  the  sun  is 
it,  the  impatient  reader  will  be  ready  to  cry.  It  is 
simply  the  art  of  managing  forests  and  utilizing 
them  for  the  benefit  of  their  owners.  As  soon  as 
a  human  being  begins  to  take  for  his  use  the 
manifold  natural  sources  of  wealth  contained  in 
the  primeval  woods,  he  practises  the  art  of  for- 
estry. The  mountain  farmer  who  uses  the  un- 
cleared portion  of  his  land  as  a  pasture  for  his 
lean  cows  and  a  rooting  ground  for  his  razor-back 
hogs,  is  practising  a  rude  sort  of  forestry ;  the 
lumber  king  who  sends  out  his  crews  to  fell  the 
white  pine  and  convert  it  into  boards  and  beams, 
is  a  forester  on  a  large  scale  ;  the  turpentine  manu- 
facturer of  North  Carolina,  the  maple-sugar  boiler 


Forests  and  Forestry  123 

of  Vermont,  both  are  engaged  in  forestry.  Even 
the  rich  man  who  fences  off  a  tract  of  woodland 
for  a  game  preserve  is  a  forester.  In  no  country 
of  the  world  has  forestry  in  one  form  or  another 
played  so  important  a  part  as  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada. 

If  forestry  is  nothing  more  than  that,  then  why 
all  this  hue  and  cry,  this  agitation  by  word  and 
pen,  this  petitioning  of  legislatures  and  spending 
of  money  which  has  been  going  on  all  over  the 
country  for  the  last  twenty  years  or  more  ?  The 
answer  is  that  forestry  in  this  country  need  not  be 
introduced,  but  its  methods  must  be  reformed.  In 
the  rapid  changes  of  conditions  which  the  develop- 
ment of  our  country  has  brought  about,  prevail- 
ing methods  of  forestry  have  become  antiquated. 
What  was  once  the  most  advantageous  way  of 
utilizing  woodlands  has  become  wasteful  and  in 
the  end  ruinous  to  us  as  a  nation,  and  often  to 
the  individual  land-owner.  Therefore  the  per- 
sons who  have  realized  these  changed  conditions 
are  anxious  to  disseminate  among  the  people  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  principles  con- 
cerning the  best  treatment  of  forest  property,  and 
wherever  necessary  to  cause  the  passage  of  laws 
designed  to  further  this  end. 

If  forestry  is  nothing  more  than  the  utilization 
of  forests,  it  necessarily  follows  that  improved 
methods  cannot  be  inimical  to  the  interests  of 
forest  owners.  That  is  the  best  method  of  for- 
estry which  is  to  the  greatest  advantage  of  the 


124    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

proprietor  of  the  wood.  Almost  self-evident  as 
this  appears,  the  contrary  opinion  was  formerly 
very  common  among  timber-land  holders,  lumber- 
men and  others.  It  still  lingers  here  and  there. 
To  some  extent  the  promoters  of  reform  have 
themselves  been  at  fault  for  this  odd  circumstance  ; 
for  they  have  sometimes  laid  such  exclusive  stress 
on  the  preservation  of  forests  that  outsiders  could 
easily  be  led  to  think  that  they  wanted  all  lumber- 
ing operations  to  stop. 

Such  a  misunderstanding  cannot  last  long  in  an 
intelligent  community,  and  is  rapidly  disappear- 
ing from  the  public  mind.  In  its  place  another 
delusion  sometimes  takes  hold  of  well  meaning 
people.  That  is  an  idea  that  what  is  needed  con- 
sists in  a  transplantation  to  this  country  of  the 
forestry  system  flourishing  in  some  foreign  coun- 
tries, and  particularly  in  Germany.  Such  a  step, 
if  it  were  possible,  would  be  foolish.  Conditions 
in  this  and  European  countries  differ  so  much  that 
what  is  practicable  in  one  country  is  often  out  of  the 
question  in  another.  What  we  can  learn  from  Ger- 
many and  other  countries  with  highly  developed 
forestry  is,  not  their  methods  and  systems,  but  the 
principles  on  which  they  are  based,  for  those  princi- 
ples are  determined  by  the  universal  laws  of  nature 
and  human  society. 

It  being  understood  that  forestry  is  the  art  of 
utilizing  forests  for  the  advantage  of  their  owners, 
we  will  make  a  great  step  towards  a  clear  compre- 
hension of  the  subject  by  considering  what  that 


Forests  and  Forestry  125 

advantage  may  be.  I  now  have  in  mind  the  case  of 
private  ownership,  for  where  forest  lands  are  owned 
by  the  public,  certain  considerations  come  into  play 
which  must  modify  the  conclusions.  Clearly  a  man 
may  have  a  diversity  of  objects  in  view  when  he 
becomes  the  owner  of  woodland.  The  most  numer- 
ous class  of  forest  owners  in  this  country  are  farm- 
ers who  keep  a  portion  of  their  homestead  under 
timber.  Forests  of  this  kind  are  rarely  over  a 
hundred  acres  in  extent,  and  usually  much  smaller. 
Their  obvious  use  is  supplementary  to  agriculture. 
They  supply  fire-wood  and  fencing  material,  pastur- 
age to  the  farm  cattle ;  occasionally  some  logs  are 
sold  to  produce  an  incidental  cash  revenue.  In 
such  cases  the  dominant  principle  of  treatment 
should  be  to  maintain  the  forest  permanently  in  as 
good  condition  as  possible  for  the  use  it  is  put  to, 
with  as  little  outlay  of  money  and  labor  as  will  ac- 
complish that  end.  Ordinarily  it  would  not  pay 
to  manage  it  with  a  view  to  large  or  continuous 
pecuniary  returns. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  person  may  own  large  tracts 
of  timber-land  from  which  he  may  desire  a  revenue. 
The  land  represents  a  large  amount  of  invested 
capital,  and  good  business  principles  demand  that 
the  investment  should  yield  a  reasonable  interest. 
In  such  cases  a  variety  of  different  systems  of 
treatment  would  be  indicated,  according  to  the 
circumstances  of  each  case.  If  the  proprietor  finds 
that  his  capital  will  be  most  productive  if  he  takes 
from  the  land  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  timber 


i26    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

growing  on  it,  markets  it  as  quickly  as  he  can, 
and  then  disposes  of  the  land,  so  that  he  may  buy 
new  tracts  to  repeat  the  same  operation,  or  put  his 
money  into  some  other  business,  then  this  will  be 
the  best  method  of  forestry  in  that  particular  case. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  owner  thinks  that,  for  any 
reason  whatsoever,  he  will  be  best  off  if  he  conduct 
lumbering  in  such  a  way  that  he  can  cut  successive 
crops  of  timber  from  the  same  land,  then  he  would 
be  a  poor  business  man  if  he  did  not  adopt  forestry 
methods  calculated  to  accomplish  that  end.  The 
former  of  these  conditions  is  the  one  in  which  most 
lumbermen  in  this  country  find  themselves  at  pre- 
sent. As  long  as  the  value  of  the  land,  aside  from 
that  of  the  merchantable  timber  growing  on  it,  is 
very  low,  and  as  long  as  plenty  of  original  timber 
is  still  in  the  market,  waiting  to  be  cut,  a  lumber- 
man who  would  attempt  to  incur  the  additional  ex- 
pense of  shaping  his  cutting  with  a  view  towards 
the  best  manner  of  timber  reproduction  would  be 
unable  to  compete  with  other  lumbermen  who  do 
not  care  for  the  permanency  of  their  industry.  It 
follows  that,  generally  speaking,  the  lumbermen  are 
not  the  reckless  destroyers  of  forests  they  are  often 
considered,  but  are  merely  doing  what  the  nature 
of  their  business  compels  them  to  do  ;  and  they  will 
continue  to  do  so  until  the  conditions  have  changed, 
either  by  the  action  of  economic  laws,  or  by  the 
effect  of  governmental  action. 

Supposing  that  in  any  given  case  it  is  economical 
to  treat  a  timber  tract  so  as  to  insure  its  perma- 


Forests  and  Forestry  127 

nence  as  a  lumber  producer,  the  owner  may  still 
have  different  objects  in  view.  He  may  wish  to 
derive  a  regular,  annual  revenue  from  his  forest ; 
or  he  may  be  satisfied  to  obtain  pecuniary  returns 
only  at  more  or  less  distant  intervals  of  time. 
Again,  he  may  insist  on  having  a  net  profit  upon 
the  value  of  the  invested  capital,  calculating  the 
same  by  including  the  value  of  the  land  at  each 
given  period ;  or  he  may  be  satisfied  with  a  like 
profit  on  the  actual  cash  outlay,  without  consider- 
ing for  the  purpose  the  increased  value  of  the  land, 
or  unearned  increment,  as  the  political  economists 
call  it.  All  these  different  objects,  together  with 
numerous  other  considerations,  must  modify  the 
manner  in  which  a  skilful  forester  would  treat  any 
given  piece  of  woodland.  In  every  such  case, 
however,  the  management  proceeds  in  such  a  way 
as  to  obtain  the  largest  possible  cash  revenue  with- 
out impairing  the  ability  of  the  land  in  the  course 
of  time  to  produce  another  installment  of  income. 
In  other  words,  instead  of  considering  the  timber 
a  crop  to  be  reaped  but  once,  the  land  is  expected 
to  furnish  crop  after  crop,  at  due  intervals,  just  as 
a  skilful  farmer  expects  to  repeat  the  operation  of 
planting  and  harvesting  indefinitely  on  the  identical 
piece  of  land. 

There  are  still  other  purposes  for  which  forest 
lands  may  be  held  by  private  parties.  H  ere  and  there 
one  finds  a  man  who  has  planted  a  tract  of  land 
with  trees  of  a  particularly  valuable  kind,  such  as 
black  walnut,  to  be  cut  and  harvested  by  his  children, 


128     North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

or  in  his  old  age.  Forest  operations  of  this  kind 
are  advantageous  even  if  the  final  harvest  does 
not  produce  a  net  profit  upon  the  outlay  with 
compound  interest  during  the  period  of  growth. 
They  are  considered  in  the  light  of  making  a  sure 
provision  for  the  future,  reasonably  free  from  the 
vicissitudes  of  business  affairs,  very  much  in  the 
nature  of  life  insurance.  On  the  formerly  tree- 
less plains  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  a  large  aggregate  area  has  within  twenty 
years  been  planted  with  trees  in  small  strips.  In 
this  case  the  question  of  pecuniary  profit  from 
these  small  forests  has  not  usually  been  taken  into 
consideration,  but  the  owners  derive  other  advan- 
tages of  various  kinds.  The  timber  strips  protect 
the  farms  against  injurious  winds  ;  they  afford  shade 
for  man  and  beast ;  and  are  in  many  other  ways  a 
benefit  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  monotonous  re- 
gions. In  many  of  the  mountainous  districts  of 
the  East,  and  to  a  less  extent  elsewhere,  considera- 
ble tracts  of  forest  have  of  late  years  been  acquired 
by  individuals  or  clubs,  and  are  maintained  as 
game  preserves  and  pleasure  resorts.  The  ques- 
tion of  revenue  from  lumbering,  or  otherwise,  usu- 
ally plays  no  part  i,n  the  intentions  of  such  owners, 
and  all  management  has  in  view  merely  the  pro- 
tection and  maintenance  of  such  forests  in  their 
natural  state.  In  cases  such  as  these  we  have 
reached  the  borderland  of  forestry  and  another  art 
which  is  sometimes  confounded  with  it,  the  art  of 
landscape  gardening.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  to 


Forests  and  Forestry  129 

manage  a  forest  with  a  view  both  to  profit  and  to 
the  beautification  of  its  landscapes,  although  usu- 
ally one  or  the  other  of  these  objects  will  suffer. 
Something  like  this  is  done,  for  instance,  in  a  por- 
tion of  the  celebrated  Biltmore  forest  in  North 
Carolina.  But  landscape  gardening  is  an  art  min- 
istering to  the  luxury  of  the  well-to-do.  Its  object 
is  beauty.  Forestry  deals  with  one  of  the  first 
necessities  of  life  ;  its  only  end  is  usefulness. 

We  have  enumerated  the  most  important  ends 
which  private  parties  may  have  in  view  when 
they  become  owners  of  woodlands.  In  every  case 
they  hold  such  property  for  their  own  benefit, 
either  to  derive  a  profit  from  harvesting  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  forest,  or  in  the  expectation  of  deriving 
an  advantage  to  some  other  business  in  which  they 
may  be  engaged.  The  methods  pursued  by  them 
in  the  management  of  their  forests  are  decided  by 
the  question,  What  will  pay  the  best  ?  No  method 
of  forestry  ever  will  be  adopted  by  private  owners 
unless,  directly  or  indirectly,  it  pays  in  dollars 
and  cents. 

The  private  owners  of  woodlands,  however,  are 
not  the  only  parties  interested  in  the  rational  treat- 
ment of  the  forests  of  North  America.  The  entire 
public,  and  the  federal,  state,  and  local  governments 
as  its  representatives,  has  the  deepest  possible  con- 
cern in  this  subject,  for  on  skilful  forestry  depends 
the  supply  of  one  of  the  greatest  necessities  of 
civilized  life,  and  with  improper  forestry  methods 
several  of  our  most  important  industries  must 


130    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

soon  begin  to  decay.  Besides,  the  extent  and 
character  of  our  forests  has  a  powerful  influence 
on  the  climatic  and  physiographical  conditions  of 
the  country.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  in- 
terest of  private  owners  and  those  of  the  public 
are  opposed  to  each  other.  In  such  cases  it  is  the 
duty  of  wise  governments  to  endeavor  to  change,  by 
legislation,  as  far  as  possible,  the  conditions  which 
cause  such  conflicts  of  interest,  and  in  extreme 
cases  to  restrain  the  injurious  acts  prompted  by 
private  greed.  A  discussion  of  such  measures  of 
this  sort  as  may  at  present  be  advisable  in  the 
United  States  must  be  reserved  for  a  succeeding 
chapter. 

Besides  being  the  protectors  of  public  interest  in 
the  management  of  private  forests,  both  the  federal 
and  many  state  governments  are  also  the  owners  of 
large  areas  of  timber-lands.  Most  of  the  States  to 
this  day  have  no  intention  of  permanently  retain- 
ing the  title  to  them,  but  try  to  dispose  of  them  as 
fast  as  they  can.  Formerly  this  was  the  universal 
custom,  but  within  a  few  years  both  the  federal 
government  and  several  of  the  States  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  wise  for  them  to 
keep  the  possession  of  a  certain  amount  of  forest 
lands.  A  few  States,  notably  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  have  even  appropriated  large  amounts 
of  money  for  the  acquisition  of  such  tracts. 

A  government  owning  and  managing  forests  may, 
like  private  persons,  do  so  with  several  objects  in 
view.  It  may  manage  them  for  the  purpose  of 


Forests  and  Forestry  131 

obtaining  a  revenue  ;  and  in  doing  so  it  may  calculate 
its  profit  either  upon  the  cash  outlay,  with  com- 
pound interest,  without  considering  in  the  com- 
putation the  rental  value  of  the  soil,  or  it  may 
include  the  latter.  In  either  case  the  methods  of 
treatment  adopted  will  be  somewhat  modified.  As 
yet  no  American  government  has  ventured  upon 
such  an  enterprise,  but  either  system  of  state  fores- 
try is  in  full  working  order  in  several  European 
countries.  Which  of  the  two  systems  is  adopted 
depends  on  fiscal  rather  than  forestal  reasons. 

A  government  also  may  manage  its  forests  with  a 
view  to  furnishing  a  steady  and  ample  supply  of  raw 
material  to  the  industries  of  its  people.  In  such  a 
case  it  would  be  of  secondary  importance  whether 
the  forest  afforded  a  large  or  small  revenue.  It 
might  even  be  expedient  to  run  it  at  a  loss.  Upon 
this  system  many  of  the  public  forests  of  Europe 
were  managed  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  at  present 
the  aim  to  produce  the  largest  possible  revenue  has 
almost  entirely  superseded  it.  The  system  is  akin 
to  that  of  a  furniture  manufactory  which  raises  its 
hard  woods  on  its  own  land  ;  or  the  manner  in 
which  the  farmer  treats  his  timber-lot. 

A  third  object  of  the  management  of  public 
forests  may  be  the  protection  of  the  climatic  and 
physiographical  interests  of  the  country.  The  set- 
ting aside  of  large  forest  reservations  in  the  moun- 
tain regions  of  the  West  by  the  United  States 
government  has  been  principally  for  this  purpose. 
The  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  also 


132    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

consider  their  public  forests  in  the  first  place  as 
protection  to  the  waterflow  of  their  rivers  and  the 
fertility  of  their  valleys.  Such  forests  are  usually 
located  in  the  most  rugged  and  inaccessible  parts  of 
mountain  ranges,  where  forestry  for  revenue  is  gen- 
erally unprofitable,  either  because  the  sterile  soil 
does  not  produce  good  timber  or  because  the  trans- 
portation facilities  are  insufficient.  Forestry  oper- 
ations in  such  localities  are  mostly  confined  to 
measures  protective  against  injuries  from  fire  and 
other  causes. 

It  cannot  be  the  object  of  a  book  like  this  to  set 
forth  in  detail  the  various  systems  of  forest  manage- 
ment in  existence.  A  voluminous  literature  is  ex- 
tant on  this  subject,  and  in  order  to  treat  it  at  all 
adequately,  a  mass  of  technical  detail  would  be 
necessary  that  can  be  of  no  interest  except  to  the 
professional  forester.  My  aim  is  merely  to  give 
intelligent  men  a  clear  idea  of  what  forestry  really 
means,  and  I  hope  that  by  this  time  attentive  read- 
ers have  learned  that  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness, usually  a  question  of  dollars  and  cents.  It 
remains  to  give  to  readers  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
manner  in  which  forests  designed  for  continuous 
wood  crops  are  treated,  an  outline  of  the  nature  of 
such  operations.  This  is  less  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  them  how  forests  are  cultivated,  than  in 
order  to  clear  their  minds  of  some  erroneous  no- 
tions. Such  erroneous  ideas  are  at  the  bottom  of 
much  of  the  popular  resistance  to  forestry  reform. 

In  the  first  place,  not  a  few  people  imagine  that 


Forests  and  Forestry  133 

the  ordinary  way  of  reproducing  forests  is  to  plant 
trees.  When  they  contemplate  the  immense  extent 
of  forest  area  in  the  country  and  the  outlay  which 
replanting  even  a  moderate  proportion  of  the  de- 
forested tracts  would  involve,  the  enormity  of  the 
task  appalls  them.  They  flout  the  possibility  of 
such  an  enterprise,  and  in  the  belief  that  this  is 
what  forestry  reformers  are  advocating,  set  the 
whole  tribe  down  as  impracticable  visionaries.  This 
state  of  mind  used  to  be  more  common  than  it  is, 
but  it  is  still  encountered  far  too  often.  Now  the 
fact  is  that  the  planting  of  nursery  trees,  or  even 
the  seeding  of  trees  in  the  places  where  they  are  to 
remain,  is  but  a  last  resort  in  forestry.  It  is  not  so 
much  that  it  will  not  pay.  For  under  reasonably 
favorable  conditions  the  final  harvest  will  yield 
enough  to  net  a  profit  even  where  the  original  out- 
lay of  planting  has  reached  twelve  or  fifteen  dollars 
per  acre,  which  ought  to  be  considered  the  outside 
limit  of  cost.  Ordinarily  it  will  be  found  much 
lower,  especially  where  the  forester  has  his  own 
nursery,  as  he  would  in  most  cases.  But  the  trou- 
ble is  in  finding  capital  willing  to  be  invested  in  an 
enterprise  that  will  not  return  it  for  so  long  a  period 
as  is  required  to  develop  merchantable  timber  out 
of  seedlings. 

Fortunately,  the  planting  of  trees  on  entirely 
denuded  tracts  is  necessary  in  but  few  instances. 
The  greater  portion  of  American  woodlands  is  in 
the  condition  of  culled  forests,  that  is,  forests  from 
which  the  merchantable  trees  have  been  cut,  leaving 


134    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  younger  individuals,  as  well  as  all  trees  belong- 
ing to  unmarketable  species.  Even  on  the  areas 
where  the  lumbermen  have  made  a  clean  cut  of  the 
original  timber,  new  trees  will  come  up  of  them- 
selves, from  seeds  blown  from  the  surrounding 
forests,  or  falling  from  occasional  individuals  left 
standing.  At  first  the  new  growth  of  trees  is  apt 
to  come  up  in  scattered  groups  ;  but  as  these  first 
comers  arrive  at  an  age  where  they  bear  seed 
themselves,  they  fill  up  the  spaces  with  their  off- 
spring, and  after  a  while  the  whole  tract  is  again 
densely  timbered — always  provided  that  fire,  cattle, 
and  other  injurious  causes  have  not  hindered  the 
normal  development. 

While  thus  nature  herself  provides,  in  most 
cases,  for  the  reforesting  of  the  lands  man  has 
denuded,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  the  art  of  the 
forester  should  do  under  such  circumstances  is  to 
protect  the  young  wood  from  injury.  That  would 
be  much,  a  great  deal  more,  in  fact,  than  is  ordinarily 
done  in  this  country.  But  it  would  be  very  far 
from  getting  the  best  result,  that  is,  the  largest 
amount  of  cash  when  the  crop  is  harvested  again. 
Many  people  probably  imagine  that  a  primeval 
wood,  "  by  nature's  own  hand  planted,"  cannot  be 
surpassed  in  the  number  and  size  of  its  trees,  and 
consequently  the  amount  of  wood  to  be  derived 
from  it.  But  the  very  opposite  is  true.  No  wild 
forest  can  ever  equal  a  cultivated  one  in  productive- 
ness. To  hope  that  it  will  is  very  much  as  if  a 
farmer  were  to  expect  a  full  harvest  from  the  grain 


Forests  and  Forestry  135 

that  may  spring  up  spontaneously  in  his  fields 
without  his  sowing.  A  tract  of  wild  forest  in  the 
first  place  does  not  contain  so  many  trees  as  might 
grow  thereon,  but  only  so  many  as  may  have  sur- 
vived the  struggle  for  life  with  their  own  and 
other  species  of  plants  occupying  the  locality. 
Many  of  the  trees  so  surviving  never  attain  their 
best  development,  being  suppressed,  overshadowed, 
and  hindered  by  stronger  neighbors.  Finally, 
much  of  the  space  that  might  be  occupied  by  valu- 
able timber  may  be  given  up  to  trees  having  little 
or  no  market  value.  The  rule  is  universal  that  the 
amount  and  value  of  material  that  can  be  taken 
from  an  area  of  wild  forest  remains  far  behind  what 
the  same  land  may  bear  if  properly  treated  by  the 
forester.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  in  the  future, 
when  most  American  forests  shall  be  in  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  the  annual  output  of  forest 
products  will,  from  a  much  restricted  area,  exceed 
everything  known  at  the  present  day. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  forester,  therefore,  to  see 
that  the  land  bears  as  large  and  as  valuable  a  crop 
as  possible.  For  this  purpose  he  uses  the  axe  far 
oftener  than  the  planting  tool — another  idea  that 
will  come  with  a  shock  of  surprise  to  not  a  few. 
One  of  the  most  common  silvicultural  operations 
is  a  series  of  what  are  known  as  improvement 
cuttings,  that  is,  the  cutting  away  of  a  proportion  of 
trees  where  they  grow  so  thick  that  they  hinder 
each  other,  the  elimination  of  species  that  are  not 
wanted  and  take  up  the  room  required  for  more 


136    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

valuable  kinds,  and  the  removal  of  sickly  or  crippled 
individuals  that  can  never  become  good  timber 
producers  and  may  even  infect  sound  neighbors 
with  their  own  malady.  There  are  certain  rules 
according  to  which  the  trees  are  allowed  to  grow 
thickly  together  or  farther  apart,  according  to  the 
object  aimed  at  in  each  particular  time  and  place. 
It  is  surprising  to  see  the  extent  to  which  the 
forester  can  regulate  the  manner  of  growth  of 
trees  and  the  character  of  wood  produced  by  them. 
As  a  general  thing  saplings  should  grow  close 
together  for  a  series  of  years.  This  forces  them 
upward  into  long,  clean  shafts  with  few  branches. 
Thereby  clean,  straight  timber  is  produced.  For 
the  presence  of  each  branch  produces  a  knot  in  the 
lumber  sawed  from  the  log,  and  thereby  reduces  its 
value.  The  longer  a  branch  is  allowed  to  grow, 
the  larger  will  be  the  knot.  If  the  trees  stand  close 
together,  not  only  will  fewer  branches  be  formed, 
but  those  existing  on  the  lower  parts  of  the  trunk 
will  soon  die  off  for  want  of  light.  This  process  is 
technically  called  the  cleaning  of  the  shafts. 

After  a  number  of  years  a  time  comes  when 
height  growth  is  no  longer  the  first  thing  to  be 
aimed  at.  The  object  now  must  be  to  cause  the 
young  tree  to  increase  the  diameter  of  its  trunk, 
and  thereby  the  size  of  the  logs  that  will  some  day 
be  cut  from  it.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  a  por- 
tion of  the  trees  is  removed,  this  giving  the  crowns 
of  the  rest  a  chance  to  develop.  With  the  broad- 
ening and  filling  out  of  the  crowns  comes  also  an 


Forests  and  Forestry  137 

increased  accumulation  of  wood  in  the  trunk. 
Naturally,  in  making  these  thinnings,  individuals 
that  are  of  particularly  vigorous  development  are 
favored,  and  their  weaker  fellows  selected  for  the 
axe.  Such  thinnings  are  repeated  from  time  to 
time.  They  require  the  exercise  of  much  skill  and 
discretion  on  the  part  of  the  forester,  for  besides 
the  growth  of  the  saplings  several  other  things 
must  be  considered.  For  instance,  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  not  injured  by 
too  much  light  being  admitted  to  the  forest  floor. 
In  such  cases,  what  is  known  as  raw  humus  is  apt 
to  be  formed, — a  kind  of  peat  generated  on  dry 
land,  which,  like  its  kin  in  the  bog,  is  inimical  to 
most  forms  of  plant  life.  Too  much  thinning  may 
also  cause  the  invasion  of  an  excessive  growth 
of  weeds,  either  of  grasses,  herbs,  or  underbrush, 
which  may  hinder  the  reproduction  of  the  desired 
species.  Various  other  objects  are  attained  by 
light  or  severe  thinnings,  as  occasion  may  require. 
A  discussion  of  these  would  lead  us  too  far  into 
silvicultural  details  of  purely  technical  interest. 

Nor  can  we  give  a  detailed  description  of  the 
various  systems  of  silviculture  known  to  foresters, 
each  of  which  has  its  peculiar  advantages  and 
drawbacks,  making  sometimes  the  one,  then  the 
other,  most  adapted  to  existing  circumstances. 
A  few  of  the  most  important  of  these  systems  we 
may  mention  in  passing.  A  forest  may  be  com- 
posed of  trees  all  of  the  same  species  and  the  same 
age  ;  consequently,  the  time  when  it  will  be  most 


138    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

profitable  to  cut  them  down  will  be  the  same  for 
the  whole  body  of  timber.  If  an  owner  wishes  to 
have  a  regular  annual  revenue  from  his  forest  of 
this  kind,  he  must  evidently  have  a  series  of  tim- 
ber bodies  of  different  ages  side  by  side.  For  in- 
stance, if  the  cutting  age  is  a  hundred  years,  he 
must  have  a  hundred  bodies  of  timber,  each  a  year 
apart  in  age,  from  the  one-year-old  seedlings  to 
the  hundred-year-old  ripe  wood.  Such  a  system  is 
known  as  a  normal  forest,  which,  however,  proba- 
bly nowhere  actually  exists  in  its  complete  form. 

Again,  the  same  body  of  timber  may  contain  in- 
dividuals of  all  ages,  from  the  seedling  to  the  ripe 
wood.  In  this  case,  the  trees  arriving  at  the  cut- 
ting age  are  each  year  culled  out.  This  system  of 
culture  is  known  as  a  selection  forest.  Like  the 
preceding  form,  it  is  rarely  found  in  its  complete 
development.  Some  of  the  age-classes  are  usually 
missing,  for  reasons  springing  from  the  phenomena 
of  struggle  for  life  outlined  in  Chapter  II. 

Forests  may  be  composed  entirely  of  one  species 
of  timber  trees,  or  a  number  of  species  may  grow 
together  on  the  same  tract.  We  speak  accordingly 
of  pure  or  mixed  forests.  Either  form  is  favored 
by  foresters,  according  to  various  considerations. 

An  interesting  form  of  forest  culture  is  occasion- 
ally adopted  under  special  conditions,  and  is  known 
as  coppice  wood.  Some  trees  among  American 
species — for  instance,  most  oaks,  many  maples,  and 
the  basswood — have  the  capacity  of  sending  up 
shoots  from  their  stumps,  or  stools.  These  shoots 


Forests  and  Forestry  139 

sometimes  reach  considerable  height  and  diameter, 
although  they  never  attain  the  dimensions  of  the 
original  trees.  One  of  the  advantages  of  coppice 
woods  is  the  short  periods  within  which  successive 
crops  can  be  taken.  Where  merely  fire-wood  is 
desired,  coppice  is  profitable.  Where  oak  bark 
is  produced  for  tanning,  it  is  the  usual  form  of 
culture. 

The  treatment  of  a  given  tract  of  forest  is  rarely 
determined  by  purely  silvicultural  reasons.  This 
would  be  the  case  if  simply  that  form  of  treatment 
and  those  species  of  trees  were  adopted  which,  un- 
der the  particular  conditions  of  soil  and  topography, 
would  produce  the  most  and  best  timber.  But  as 
the  ultimate  end  of  forestry  is  not  the  production 
of  fine  trees,  but  the  gaining  of  a  profit,  other  con- 
siderations must  modify  the  policy  of  the  forester. 
These  considerations  are  especially  those  of  trans- 
portation and  of  market  price.  Without  going 
into  details,  we  will  in  the  following  chapter 
briefly  treat  of  these  and  a  few  allied  matters.  In 
doing  so  our  principal  aim  will  be,  as  it  has  been 
in  this  chapter,  to  make  it  clear  that  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  forestry  is  simply  a  question  of  business,  of 
dollars  and  cents  to  the  owner  and  of  economic 
advantage  to  the  community. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FOREST    FINANCE    AND    MANAGEMENT 

CORESTRY  resembles  farming  in  this,  that  both 
operations  are  not  conducted  in  a  perfect  man- 
ner unless  it  is  sought  not  only  to  obtain  the  best 
possible  crop  a  single  time,  but  to  provide  for  suc- 
cessive crops  at  the  proper  intervals.  The  great 
difference  between  the  two  industries  flows  from 
the  fact  that  farm  crops  ripen  annually,  while  wood 
crops  can  be  taken  from  the  land  but  once  at  inter- 
vals ranging,  according  to  the  species  of  trees  and 
the  character  of  the  product  desired,  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  or  more  years. 

How  is  the  time  known  when  a  forest  is  ripe  for 
felling  ?  It  is  determined  by  a  series  of  considera- 
tions, partly  arising  out  of  the  natural  qualities  of 
trees,  partly  out  of  financial  reasons.  When  a  tree 
is  very  young  it  is  not  good  for  much  of  anything, 
aside  from  such  special  uses  as  hop-poles,  Christmas 
trees,  and  the  like,  for  which  there  is  a  limited  mar- 
ket. Even  when  a  tree  has  become  large  enough 
to  furnish  lumber,  the  wood  may  not  be  of  the  kind 
which  is  best  for  general  use  ;  for  instance,  small 
pines  have  too  large  a  preponderance  of  sap-wood 
over  heart-wood,  and  the  lumber  made  from  it  is 

140 


Forest  Finance  and  Management 

not  so  strong  as  that  cut  from  older  trees,  and  con- 
sequently does  not  bring  so  high  a  price.  Again, 
when  a  tree  gets  too  old  it  is  apt  to  rot  at  the 
centre,  thereby  diminishing  the  quantity  of  sound 
lumber  it  will  furnish,  even  though  it  may  still  form 
a  new  layer  of  wood  every  year.  Another  factor  is 
the  different  rate  of  growth  of  trees  at  different 
ages.  Take  the  white  pine  and  its  cousins,  for  in- 
stance. The  first  three  or  four  years  the  little 
seedling  grows  but  very  slowly,  except  as  far  as  its 
root-system  is  concerned.  Then  comes  a  period, 
which  may  last  from  thirty  to  fifty  years,  when  its 
growth  is  very  rapid.  If  the  young  pines  stand 
close  together,  as  they  ought  to  if  good  lum- 
ber is  expected  from  them,  this  growth  is  especially 
rapid  in  an  upward  direction.  After  that  period, 
they  ought  to  be  made  to  grow  principally  in  diam- 
eter, and  that  is  done  by  cutting  out  a  certain  num- 
ber of  the  trees,  so  that  the  rest  may  have  a  chance 
to  spread  their  crowns.  As  soon  as  they  have  done 
this  and  formed  a  full,  leafy  top,  they  devote  them- 
selves to  increasing  their  diameter,  without,  however, 
ceasing  to  grow  in  height.  This  diameter  growth 
may  continue  for  an  almost  indefinite  time.  Pines 
have  been  known,  that  were  over  three  hundred  years 
old,  as  shown  by  their  annual  rings,  and  still  formed 
new  wood  in  their  boles  up  to  the  time  of  their 
felling.  The  amount  of  wood  so  formed  every  year 
begins  to  decrease  after  a  certain  time,  and  in  very  old 
trees  is  apt  to  be  inconsiderable.  The  rate  at  which 
the  increase  of  wood  takes  place,  at  the  different 


i42  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

periods  of  the  life  of  a  tree,  is  fairly  constant  among 
trees  of  the  same  species  grown  under  similar  con- 
ditions. It  is  possible,  therefore,  to  ascertain  by 
taking  the  average  of  a  very  large  number  of  trees 
felled  and  examined,  to  calculate  the  probable  in- 
crease of  wood  which  other  trees,  still  growing,  will 
show  at  any  given  period  of  their  future  lives.  Ta- 
bles furnishing  such  information  are  known  as  yield 
tables,  and  have  been,  in  Europe,  constructed  with 
great  care,  for  all  trees  of  commercial  importance 
in  that  country.  As  far  as  is  known  to  the  author, 
as  yet  no  such  tables  have  been  constructed  and 
published  regarding  American  trees,  except  a  set, 
prepared  by  Messrs.  Pinchot  and  Graves,  for  white 
pine  grown  in  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
another  for  spruce  in  the  Adirondacks. 

These  are  some  of  the  considerations  growing 
out  of  the  botanical  nature  of  trees  and  required  for 
determining  when  a  forest  is  ripe  for  the  axe.  Clear- 
ly you  must  not  fell  the  trees  while  they  are  still  so 
young  as  to  furnish  little  and  inferior  lumber ;  but 
while  you  may  know,  in  this  way,  the  lower  limit  of 
felling,  you  have  not  yet  sufficient  data  to  find  the 
upper  limit.  You  cannot  tell  whether  you  would 
most  profitably  cut  your  forest  at  a  hundred  or  two 
hundred  years  of  age,  for  it  is  clear  that,  barring 
accidents,  the  longer  you  wait  the  more  lumber  you 
will  harvest.  The  upper  limit,  however,  is  set  by 
financial  calculations  in  the  following  manner : 

It  costs  something  to  keep  your  forest  untouched, 
and  yielding  very  little  revenue,  year  after  year. 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      143 

First  there  is  your  original  investment,  with  in- 
terest at  the  current  rate,  —  compound  interest, 
too,  for,  as  in  a  different  kind  of  investment  you 
might  draw  your  interest  annually  and  either  con- 
sume or  reinvest  it,  you  are  evidently  entitled  to 
get  something  for  forbearing  to  draw  out  of  the 
business.  Then  there  is  the  cost  of  maintaining 
your  forest,  which  will  vary  considerably  according 
to  circumstances.  In  this  item  you  must  include 
such  preliminary  expenses  of  surveying  and  other- 
wise examining  your  forest  as  may  have  had  to  be 
incurred  at  the  start,  in  order  to  make  intelligent 
plans  for  the  way  in  which  you  want  to  manage  it. 
You  also  include  herein  the  cost  of  labor  every 
year,  the  cost  of  superintendence  by  a  skilled 
forester,  not  forgetting  to  reckon  the  interest  on 
these  items  of  outlay.  Next  you  must  think  of 
the  expense  incurred  for  necessary  tools  and  imple- 
ments, as  well  as  other  plant,  their  wear  and  tear, 
and  again  the  interest  on  the  outlay.  Still  another 
item  of  expense  will  be  the  preparations  for  market- 
ing your  crop,  which  may  include  not  only  plant 
and  labor,  but  also  the  expense  of  building  roads. 
Finally,  there  are  taxes  to  be  paid — an  item  of 
cost  of  which  we  will  have  something  more  to  say 
anon.  All  these  things  are  to  be  paid  for  between 
the  beginning  of  the  business  and  the  final  harvest. 
There  are,  during  this  interval,  certain  sources  of 
income  from  your  forest,  consisting  principally 
of  the  money  to  be  made  out  of  material  taken 
away  by  thinnings  and  other  kinds  of  improvement 


144  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

cuttings.  These  sums,  together  with  the  cash 
received  at  the  final  harvest,  must  evidently  be 
equal  to  the  cash  outlay  with  compound  interest 
at  the  usual  rate  ;  else  you  would  have  done  better 
if  you  had  invested  your  money  differently,  and 
your  forestry  has  not  been  a  financial  success. 
Strictly  speaking,  we  must  consider  still  another 
factor  in  order  to  judge  of  the  profitableness  of  the 
enterprise.  It  may  be  that  the  land  you  maintain 
as  forest  has  risen  in  value  to  such  an  extent  that 
you  would  have  realized  more  from  a  sale  of  the 
land  than  from  your  wood  crop.  At  any  rate,  the 
increased  market  value  might  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, but  I  believe  that  it  is  neglected  in  the 
calculations  of  most  forest  estates,  the  world  over, 
principally  because  there  are  often  motives  for  not 
disposing  of  the  land  aside  from  the  hope  of  larger 
returns  by  holding  it. 

The  longer  the  interval  between  the  beginning 
of  forest  growth  and  the  final  harvest,  the  greater 
is,  manifestly,  the  amount  of  cash  that  must  be 
received  in  order  to  make  a  profit  on  the  invest- 
ment. The  increase  of  cash  is,  generally  speaking, 
determined  by  the  increase  in  the  volume  of  wood 
contained  in  your  forest.  Now  we  see  how  we 
can  find  the  upper  age-limit  for  felling  our  trees. 
We  have  learned  that  after  a  certain  age  the 
amount  of  wood  annually  formed  gradually  de- 
creases. The  time  for  cutting  most  profitably  is, 
therefore,  the  year  when  the  increase  in  volume 
of  wood  no  longer  exceeds  the  annual  cost  of 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      145 

maintaining"  the  forest,  reckoned  as  we  have  just 
shown.  This  time  can  be  predicted  in  advance 
with  considerable  accuracy  by  the  help  of  the  yield 
tables,  of  which  we  have  spoken  above. 

The  time  when  the  cut  is  made  in  practice  is  not 
always  the  exact  year  so  ascertained  in  advance. 
It  may  happen,  to  take  but  one  of  many  con- 
tingencies, that  a  year  before  the  time  set  for  the 
final  harvest  the  market  price  of  the  particular 
kind  of  lumber  produced  in  our  forest  is  exception- 
ally high  ;  then  it  would  evidently  be  the  part  of 
prudence  to  take  advantage  of  this  accident,  and 
possibly  by  the  increased  price  realize  more  than 
would  be  represented  by  the  wood  increase  of  a 
single  year.  Or  the  reverse  may  happen  ;  prices 
may  be  unusually  low  in  the  year  when  ordinarily 
the  final  harvest  must  come.  Then  we  had  better 
wait  awhile  till  prices  rise  again. 

The  slight  modification  brought  about  in  the 
time  of  the  final  harvest  is  not  the  only  way  in 
which  market  price  becomes  a  factor  in  determin- 
ing the  system  according  to  which  a  forest  is  man- 
aged. It  may,  among  other  things,  affect  the 
choice  of  the  species  to  be  raised  on  your  land.  It 
may  happen  that,  from  a  purely  silvicultural  stand- 
point, your  land  is  best  adapted  to  one  kind  of 
tree.  But  you  choose  deliberately  to  raise  another 
kind,  because  you  foresee  that  it  will  find  a  readier 
and  better  market  than  the  first.  The  difficulty  of 
forecasting  the  market  price  is  naturally  very  great, 
on  account  of  the  long  periods  of  time  with  which 


146  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

you  must  deal.  Who  can  be  certain  what  economic 
changes  affecting  the  market  for  your  commodity 
may  occur  in  a  hundred  years  ?  Still,  as  in  agricul- 
ture there  are  certain  staples  which  will  always  be 
in  demand,  so  there  are  in  forestry.  The  kinds  of 
wood  used  in  building,  and  for  ordinary  rough 
work,  such  as  pine  and  spruce  lumber,  are  not  likely 
to  ever  fall  into  disfavor.  It  is  different  with  many 
of  the  hard  woods  required  for  furniture  and  other 
manufacturing  uses.  Among  other  things,  these 
are  subject  to  the  changes  of  fashion,  which  may 
at  one  time  destroy  the  market  for  wood  there- 
tofore in  common  use,  and  at  another  bring  a  wood 
that  was  despised  as  valueless  into  favor  and  con- 
sequently into  the  high-priced  class.  It  is  not  very 
long  ago  when  the  common  red  oak  was  considered 
valueless  except  for  fuel.  To-day  none  other  of 
our  oaks  is  in  greater  demand  by  furniture  makers. 
New  uses  have  recently  been  found  for  quite  a 
number  of  woods  that  once  were  unsalable.  This 
has  been  brought  about,  for  example,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  excelsior,  the  more  wide-spread  use  of 
wood  alcohol  and  similar  distillatory  products, 
and  especially  the  use  of  wood  pulp  in  paper 
making. 

While  the  species  which,  like  the  pines,  furnish 
lumber  principally  for  building  and  other  rough 
uses  have  the  advantage  of  a  surer  and  steadier 
market,  the  other  kinds  of  trees,  required  for  spe- 
cial uses,  generally  speaking  have  the  advantage 
of  higher  prices.  They  also,  in  most  cases,  may 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      147 

be  harvested  at  shorter  intervals,  which  is  an  ad- 
vantage, especially  where  your  forest  is  a  small  one. 

The  cash  returns  one  may  expect  from  his  forest 
are  strongly  affected  by  the  facilities  existing  for 
bringing  one's  product  to  market.  The  question 
of  transportation  can,  of  course,  like  other  ques- 
tions of  this  sort,  be  treated  in  nothing  more  than 
the  faintest  outline  in  a  volume  like  this.  It  is 
very  closely  bound  up  with  the  whole  economic 
life  of  the  nation,  and  an  exhaustive  treatise  on  the 
transportation  of  forest  products  would  be  in  effect 
a  treatise  on  the  whole  transportation  problem. 

The  cost  of  transporting  forestry  products  nat- 
urally divides  itself  into  two  stages.  The  first 
covers  the  way  from  the  forest  to  the  mill,  the  sec- 
ond the  farther  journey  of  the  finished  product 
into  the  hands  of  the  consumer.  Perhaps  one 
might  say  that  only  the  first  division  properly  falls 
within  the  field  of  forestry,  and  we  will  direct  our 
attention  principally  to  it. 

The  business  of  sawing  logs  into  lumber  is  very 
often  conducted  by  other  parties  than  the  owners 
of  the  forest  where  the  trees  are  felled.  In  most 
foreign  countries,  I  believe,  this  is  the  rule,  while 
in  this  country  the  opposite  case  is  perhaps  more 
often  to  be  found.  But  no  matter  how  soon  in 
its  progress  to  the  consumer  the  forest  product 
changes  ownership,  the  question  of  transporting  it 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  forester.  There 
are  to-day  billions  of  feet  of  timber  in  this  country 
which,  from  a  silvicultural  standpoint,  ought  to  be 


148  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

cut  without  delay,  but  which  cannot  be  touched  by 
the  axe  on  account  of  the  lack  of  transportation 
facilities.  As  these  bodies  of  timber  are  in  danger 
of  constant  deterioration  from  the  numerous  causes 
treated  elsewhere,  there  is  here  a  distinct  loss  of 
natural  wealth,  due  directly  to  the  absence  of  roads 
of  all  kinds. 

We  have  described  in  another  chapter  some  of 
the  manifold  devices  adopted  by  our  lumbermen 
to  bring  their  heavy  and  unmanageable  goods  to 
market.  The  distinguishing  feature  of  all  road 
building  by  American  lumbermen  has  been  that 
these  works  were  of  a  temporary  nature.  Even 
railroads  built  by  the  loggers  are  put  up  hastily, 
cheaply,  and  without  a  durable  and  smooth  road- 
bed, so  that  in  case  the  logging  railroad  is  later  on 
wanted  for  permanent  railway  use,  as  happens  not 
rarely  in  the  progress  of  settlement,  both  roadbed 
and  rails  must  be  practically  laid  anew.  The  justi- 
fication of  this  rough  kind  of  work  lies  in  the  fact 
that  lumbermen  have  not  heretofore  had  occasion 
to  care  for  a  second  crop  to  be  taken  from  their 
lands  in  the  future.  Consequently  the  roads  were 
of  no  further  use  after  the  growing  timber  had 
been  removed,  and  expending  money  to  insure 
greater  durability  would  have  been  wasteful.  If 
in  the  future  forestry  methods  are  employed  look- 
ing towards  a  continuous  succession  of  crops,  it 
would  be  wasteful  to  fail  of  building  permanent 
roads,  as  the  expense  incurred  in  building  tempo- 
rary ones  would  have  to  be  repeated  every  time 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      149 

the  period  for  cutting  timber  came  around  again. 
Besides,  the  roads  are  necessary  during  the  inter- 
vening silvicultural  operations,  such  as  improve- 
ment cuttings  and  so  forth,  and  they  serve  as 
effective  fire-breaks.  In  a  permanent  forest  estate 
the  sinking  of  a  considerable  amount  of  capital  in 
road  building  cannot  be  avoided ;  but  hardly  any 
employment  of  capital  upon  the  estate  is  calculated 
to  give  a  greater  increase  of  value  than  this,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  that  it  is  done  judiciously  and 
without  excessive  expense. 

We  have  now  outlined  the  main  principles  which 
must  be  the  guides  in  choosing  the  manner  of 
treating  a  forest  from  which  we  expect  to  derive 
a  continuous  series  of  profit  upon  the  investment. 
First  we  mentioned  the  purely  silvicultural  factors, 
the  questions  depending  on  the  nature  of  the 
climate,  soil,  and  topography,  and  the  manner  of 
growth  of  trees.  Then  we  considered  the  finan- 
cial side  of  the  question,  the  calculations  regarding 
the  amount  of  capital  needed,  the  rate  of  interest, 
the  price  to  be  expected  for  the  crop,  and  the  facil- 
ities of  bringing  it  to  market.  We  could  not  do 
more  than  mention  the  elementary  principles  on 
which  these  considerations  are  based,  for  to  treat 
even  one  of  them  in  detail  would  far  exceed  the 
limits  of  this  volume,  besides  being  of  little  inter- 
est to  most  readers.  But  this  I  hope  to  have 
made  clear  to  all, — that  for  the  successful  manage- 
ment of  a  permanent  forest  as  a  profitable  invest- 
ment it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  the 


150  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

beginning  be  right.  You  must  raise  the  right  kinds 
of  trees  in  the  right  places,  and  lay  out  your  plans 
of  treating  them  in  advance.  For  your  crop  can- 
not be  changed  for  a  long  time  after  you  have 
started  it  and,  unlike  the  farmer,  a  mistake  made 
in  one  year  cannot  be  corrected  by  you  in  the 
next.  The  making  of  the  working-plans  for  the 
treatment  of  a  forest  is  rightly  considered  as  one 
of  the  most  important  as  well  as  the  most  difficult 
parts  of  the  professional  forester's  art.  The  larger 
the  forest  the  greater  are,  of  course,  the  difficul- 
ties of  making  it,  but  even  the  smallest  wood-lot 
ought  to  be  treated  according  to  a  well-considered 
plan  in  order  to  realize  the  highest  benefit  for  the 
owner. 

Where  a  person  has  invested  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  his  fortune  in  forest  property  it  may  be  as- 
sumed that  he  desires  a  continuous  annual  revenue 
therefrom.  As  it  takes  a  great  many  years  before  a 
body  of  timber  becomes  ripe  for  the  final  harvest, 
and  the  intermediate  revenues  are  hardly  large 
enough  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  the  proprietor,  the 
only  way  out  of  the  difficulty  is  to  divide  the  forest 
into  different  bodies  of  different  ages,  so  that  one 
of  them  may  be  ripe  for  the  axe  every  year.  From 
this  it  follows  easily  that  forestry  as  a  business  by 
itself,  not  merely  supplementary  to  a  farming  or 
manufacturing  enterprise,  pays  only  on  a  large 
scale,  for  only  in  that  way  can  a  sufficient  cash 
revenue  be  realized  every  year  to  pay  reasonable 
interest  on  the  investment.  The  divisions  and 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      151 

subdivisions  into  which  a  forest  is  usually  divided 
are  technically  known  as  blocks  and  compartments. 
They  serve  to  mark  the  body  of  timber  to  be  felled 
each  year,  and  are  also  convenient  for  various  silvi- 
cultural  purposes.  The  number  of  compartments 
ought  to  correspond,  as  nearly  as  possible,  with  the 
number  of  years  which  the  trees  require  to  become 
ripe  for  the  axe,  according  to  the  principles  already 
explained.  In  a  forest  so  arranged  there  will,  con- 
sequently, be  trees  of  every  age,  from  the  seedling 
to  the  ripe  timber.  It  should  be  said  that  what 
has  just  been  stated  applies  especially  to  the  system 
of  silviculture  known  as  normal  high  forest.  In 
such  systems  as  selection  forest  or  coppice,  consid- 
erable modifications  in  applying  these  rules  are  re- 
quired, but  the  principle  remains  the  same.  In  all 
cases  the  forester's  aim  is  to  have  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  timber  ready  for  marketing  each  year,  and 
to  provide  annually  for  the  future  supply  of  timber 
by  beginning  a  new  reproductive  cycle  to  supply  the 
place  of  what  has  been  removed.  The  period  elap- 
sing from  the  time  when  the  young  seedlings  begins 
to  sprout  to  the  year  when  the  mature  trees  are  cut 
is  known  as  the  rotation  period.  One  speaks  ac- 
cordingly of  a  sixty-year  rotation,  a  hundred-year 
rotation  and  so  forth.  Generally  speaking,  the 
production  of  ordinary  lumber  requires  the  longest 
rotation.  Where  it  is  intended  to  raise  special 
kinds  of  lumber  for  manufacturing  purposes,  or 
wood  for  pulp  material,  charcoal,  or  other  industrial 
uses,  the  rotation  is  often  materially  shortened. 


152  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

I  trust  that  from  what  has  been  said  in  this  and  the 
preceding  chapter,  attentive  readers,  even  if  entirely 
uniamiliar  with  the  subject  before,  can  form  a  con- 
ception of  the  character  and  objects  of  the  improved 
methods  of  forestry  now  so  widely  and  zealously 
advocated  in  this  country.  The  next  matter  to  be 
considered  is  how  far  such  methods  are  applicable 
to  the  condition  under  which  American  forests  must 
be  utilized  by  their  owners. 

The  dead-weight  of  a  stupid  repugnance  to  all 
change,  which  is  encountered  by  every  advocate  of 
improvements,  opposes  itself  also  to  forestry  reform. 
Without  having  even  a  hazy  notion  of  what  is  pro- 
posed by  the  reformers,  and  being  too  lazy  to  inform 
themselves  upon  the  subject,  not  a  few  in  some  re- 
spects, quite  intelligent  people  content  themselves 
with  saying  that  the  methods  possible  in  little  Ger- 
many cannot  be  applied  to  our  immense  country, 
with  its  inexhaustible  resources.  In  order  not  to 
fall  into  the  same  error  with  our  antagonists  and 
judge  of  things  we  know  not  of,  we  ought  to  ex- 
amine what  modicum  of  truth  there  is  to  this 
objection. 

Always  bearing  in  mind  that  the  chief  end  of 
forestry  is  to  make  money,  let  us  see  whether  the 
producer  of  timber,  who  looks  to  a  succession  of 
crops  from  his  forest,  can  hold  his  own  in  competi- 
tion with  the  lumberman,  who  merely  seeks  to  mar- 
ket the  store  of  timber  provided  by  the  forestry 
methods  of  nature.  To  begin  with,  there  is  no 
doubt  but  what  the  provision  for  forest  reproduction 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      153 

entails  a  considerable  expense  to  which  the  or- 
dinary lumberman  is  not  subject.  Yet  this  would 
be  no  obstacle  if  the  capital  so  sunk  were  certain  to 
return  into  the  pocket  of  his  owner  with  reasonable 
profit.  Can  it  be  expected  to  do  so  with  any  degree 
of  certainty  ? 

There  was  a  time  when  the  amount  of  merchant- 
able timber  in  our  natural  forests  was  considered  as 
practically  inexhaustible.  To-day  no  intelligent  man 
believes  it  so.  White-pine  lumbering  on  a  large 
scale  will  cease  within  ten  or  fifteen  years.  Its 
place  will  be  taken  by  the  southern  yellow  pines, 
and  to  a  smaller  extent  by  the  various  soft  woods  of 
the  West.  But  this  supply  also  will  give  out  in  a 
not  distant  future,  especially  if  consumption  goes 
on  increasing  in  the  way  it  has  done  of  late.  If 
land-owners  were  to  begin  restocking  their  cut-over 
land  at  the  present  time,  they  would  have  their  new 
growth  in  merchantable  condition  just  about  the 
time  when  the  last  remnant  of  natural  supply  will 
give  out,  and  would  be  in  condition  to  supply  the 
market  practically  without  competition  from  natu- 
rally grown  timber. 

This  conclusion  is  so  obvious  that  the  very  fact 
must  make  us  suspicious.  The  men  who  stand  at 
the  head  of  the  great  lumber  corporations  are  cer- 
tainly, as  a  rule,  men  of  great  ability,  wide  experi- 
ence and  large  knowledge  in  the  sphere  of  their 
business.  They  are  ever  anxious  to  adopt  new 
methods  by  which  their  operations  can  be  made 
more  successful.  If  the  matter  were  so  plain  as  we 


154  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

stated  it  above,  these  men  would  have  discovered 
the  fact  long  ago  and  gone  into  the  business  of 
raising  young  forests.  The  lumber  business  is 
usually  conducted  by  corporations  which  continue 
when  their  officers  die,  so  it  cannot  be  a  reluctance 
to  invest  in  an  enterprise  from  which  returns  do 
not  come  in  one's  own  lifetime.  Moreover,  these 
concerns  have  such  great  means  that  they  could 
well  afford  to  have  a  portion  of  them  tied  up  in 
Wisconsin  during  the  time  when  the  new  growths 
were  slowly  maturing  on  the  cut-over  lands,  while 
with  the  rest  of  their  capital  they  were  harvesting 
the  original  pine  in  the  South.  Then  why  do  they 
not  do  it  ? 

Some  of  the  answers  occasionally  given  are  quite 
insufficient  to  account  for  this  singular  circum- 
stance. One  of  the  commonest  objections  heard, 
at  least  in  the  Lake  region,  to  any  plan  for  the  re- 
stocking of  denuded  lands  with  pine,  is  that  the 
pine  will  not  grow  there  again.  I  speak  of  pine  in 
this  connection,  because  with  its  allied  soft-wood 
species  it  will  always  furnish  the  greater  portion  of 
material  for  the  lumber  industry.  This  notion  is 
based  on  an  erroneous  analogy  drawn  from  agricul- 
ture. People  imagine  that  a  rotation  of  crops  is 
needed  in  the  raising  of  trees  as  well  as  of  grain, 
while  for  reasons  we  need  not  discuss  here  the  case 
is  quite  different.  Observation,  if  well  directed, 
will  easily  convince  one  of  the  fallacy  of  this  no- 
tion, for  in  all  parts  of  the  pine  regions  of  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Ontario,  young 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      155 

pine  is  coming  up  lustily,  wherever  seed  has  reached 
the  soil  and  the  fire  has  given  the  young  growth  a 
chance.  These  small  white  pines,  however,  are 
not  rarely  mistaken  for  jack  pine  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  region  !  A  circumstance  which  often  pre- 
vents a  careless  observer  from  recognizing  the  new 
growth  of  pine  is,  that  the  cut-over  lands  almost 
invariably  cover  themselves  at  first  with  rapidly 
growing  broad-leaved  species,  such  as  the  aspen 
(Populus  tremuloides,  Michx.)  and  paper  birch 
(Betula  papyri/era,  Marsh).  Under  the  light  shade 
of  these  trees  the  little  pine  seedlings  increase  slow- 
ly in  height  and  vigor,  until  after  about  fifteen  years 
they  begin  to  overtop  them,  and  gradually  by  their 
own  shade  kill  the  trees  that  have  protected  them 
in  their  infancy.  In  Maine  and  the  other  eastern 
lumber  regions  there  seems  to  be  no  such  supersti- 
tion about  white  pine  not  reproducing  itself,  prob- 
ably because  there  the  second  growth  is  by  this 
time  of  such  age  and  size  that  even  the  most  super- 
ficial observer  cannot  deny  its  existence. 

Another  way  of  explaining  the  reason  why  refor- 
estation has  not  yet  recommended  itself  to  the 
owners  of  pine  lands  is  hardly  more  founded  on 
fact  than  the  legend -that  pine  will  not  grow  again 
in  its  old  habitat.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the 
reforestation  would  be  too  expensive  to  bring 
profit  from  the  final  harvest  within  the  bounds  of 
probability.  Let  us  see  what  there  is  in  that. 

Undoubtedly  the  cash  expense  to  be  incurred 
by  the  American  forester  for  the  labor  required 


156  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

in  silvicultural  operations  is  higher  than  it  is  in 
Germany  or  France.  Just  how  much  higher,  it 
does  not  matter  for  our  purposes.  But  American 
labor  is  more  effective  than  European.  In  nearly 
all  industries  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  a  work- 
ingman  in  the  United  States  accomplishes  more 
work  in  the  same  time  than  his  fellow  in  Europe. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  same  rule  will 
hold  good  in  forestry  work.  In  addition,  we  may 
count  on  the  usual  labor-saving  devices,  as  soon  as 
Yankee  ingenuity  has  been  turned  upon  silvicul- 
tural problems.  Consequently  we  may  expect  a 
counter-weight  to  the  apparently  greater  cheapness 
of  European  labor.  In  another  regard  we  have  the 
advantage  of  Europe.  That  is  the  value  of  the 
land.  Five  dollars  an  acre  is  considered  a  pretty 
high  price  to  pay  for  timber-land  in  the  United 
States,  while  immense  tracts  can  be  had  for  far  less 
than  that.  In  Central  Europe  values  are  very 
much  higher,  if  we  except  mountainous  regions 
where  forests  are  maintained  less  for  the  revenues 
they  will  yield  than  for  the  indirect  benefit  to  be 
derived  from  them.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that 
there  can  be  little,  if  any,  difference  in  the  average 
cost  of  maintaining  forests  for  continuous  crops  in 
the  United  States  and  Central  Europe  under  the 
same  system  of  management.  But  can  the  Euro- 
pean forester  expect  a  substantially  higher  return 
from  forests  grown  under  approximately  similar 
conditions  ? 

This  question  must  be  answered  principally  with 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      157 

reference  to  market  facilities  and  market  price.  In 
one  respect  we  are  undoubtedly  at  a  disadvantage 
to  the  European.  His  forests  are  mostly  in  close 
proximity  to  densely  populated  districts.  Conse- 
quently he  has  a  market  for  a  number  of  minor 
forest  products  which  we  cannot  utilize.  He  may 
sell  the  nuts,  berries,  and  mushrooms  growing  in 
his  woods,  although  in  many  cases  a  benevolent 
custom  allows  the  poor  people  of  the  neighborhood 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  not  quite  inconsiderable 
revenue.  There  is  very  little  waste  in  felling,  for 
the  branches  and  tops,  which  we  must  leave  on  the 
ground  as  a  constant  menace  of  fire,  he  binds  into 
fagots  and  sells  at  a  reasonable  price  for  fuel  and 
other  purposes.  The  cost  of  transportation  from 
the  mill  to  the  consumer  is  apt  to  be  less.  As  to 
the  average  price  of  lumber  in  Europe  and  this 
country,  it  is  not  easy  to  make  accurate  compari- 
sons. In  the  first  place,  in  Central  Europe  at  least 
there  is  comparatively  little  use  made  of  soft-lum- 
ber boards,  most  of  their  spruce  and  fir  timber  be- 
ing used  in  the  shape  of  beams,  while  nearly  all  our 
pine,  spruce,  and  fir  lumber  consists  of  boards.  It 
is  rather  difficult  to  make  precise  calculation  in 
converting  the  price  of  one  of  these  into  that  of  the 
other.  Moreover,  prices  in  Germany  and  France 
are  quoted  for  the  cubic  metre,  while  we  use  the 
foot  board  measure  as  the  unit.  This  adds  another 
element  of  difficulty  and  uncertainty.  If  one  wants 
to  compare  the  prices,  not  of  sawed  lumber,  but  of 
logs,  in  the  forest  or  at  the  mill,  the  first  difficulty 


158  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

is  eliminated,  but  the  second  remains.  On  the 
whole,  I  think  that  hard  wood  brings  materially 
higher  prices  in  Europe,  but  the  market  price  of 
soft-wood  timber  is  nearly  the  same  there  as  in  the 
United  States.  Still,  I  am  not  by  any  means  cer- 
tain that  this  conclusion  is  quite  correct. 

Assuming  that  the  European  forester  receives  a 
higher  price  for  his  crop,  yet  the  high  rental  value 
of  his  land  compels  him  to  wring  from  the  soil  the 
very  greatest  amount  of  cash  it  can  possibly  yield. 
In  other  words,  his  forestry  must  be  what  political 
economists  call  intensive,  just  as  the  European 
farmer  must  resort  to  an  intensive  cultivation  of  his 
high-priced  land  in  order  to  compete  with  the  farm- 
ers of  our  western  States  and  other  countries  with 
low  land  values.  This  increased  productiveness  of 
the  land  can  be  brought  about  only  by  the  employ- 
ment of  additional  capital  and  labor.  Now,  every- 
body who  has  ever  studied  political  economy  knows 
the  law  of  diminishing  returns,  which  is  briefly 
stated  as  follows  :  There  is  a  point  where  the  appli- 
cation of  capital  and  labor  upon  land  brings  the 
highest  return  in  products,  in  proportion  to  the  cost. 
If  the  amount  of  capital  and  labor  so  applied  is  in- 
creased still  further,  the  amount  of  products  result- 
ing will  increase  absolutely,  but  the  proportion  it 
bears  to  the  cost  of  production  will  become  smaller 
and  smaller.  In  other  words,  the  cost  of  production 
will  increase  more  and  more  until  finally  the  further 
increase  of  capital  and  labor  so  applied  becomes  un- 
profitable. This  law  is  as  effective  in  forestal  as 


Forest  Finance  and  Management      159 

in  agricultural  operations.  It  follows  from  it  that 
Central  Europe,  with  its  high  cost  of  production 
(high  notwithstanding  its  lower  money  wages),  must 
receive  higher  prices  for  its  forest  products  in  order 
to  make  forestry  pay,  just  as  it  must  receive  higher 
prices  for  its  agricultural  products  in  order  to  make 
farming  profitable.  In  the  United  States  we  will 
not  for  a  long  time  be  compelled  to  resort  to  inten- 
sive methods  of  production  ;  in  fact,  such  methods 
would  in  most  cases  be  ruinous  because  we  would 
not  have  a  higher  market  price  to  off-set  the  in- 
creased cost.  But  giving  due  weight  to  these  facts  : 
that  the  cost  of  labor  in  Europe  is  only  apparently 
less  ;  that  the  rental  value  of  the  land  there  is  much 
higher  ;  and  that,  with  increased  cost  of  production, 
the  price  of  staple  products  is  little,  if  at  all,  higher 
in  Europe  than  here,  it  seems  that  we  have  even  a 
better  chance  to  make  forestry  pay  than  they  have 
there,  just  as  on  the  whole  farming  is  more  profita- 
ble in  the  United  States  than  in  Europe. 

Still  another  consideration  must  not  be  forgotten. 
If  forestry  based  on  silviculture  were  begun  to-day, 
its  product  would  not  be  ready  for  market  until 
about  the  time  when  the  merchantable  timber  pro- 
vided by  nature  had  disappeared.  The  wild  and 
the  cultivated  timber  would  therefore  not  come  into 
competition  at  all.  The  producers  of  the  new  sup- 
ply would  hardly  underbid  each  other  to  any  extent 
so  as  to  lower  the  price  below  the  cost  of  production. 
As  to  foreign  competition,  it  is  impossible  to  say 
with  any  certainty  whether  there  will  be,  seventy-five 


160  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

years  from  now,  a  supply  of  soft-wood  lumber 
anywhere,  able  to  compete  with  home-grown  lumber 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  disturb  the  market.  But 
assuming  that  such  competition  will  be  possible,  we 
may  consider  it  as  the  settled  policy  of  the  country, 
in  cases  of  this  kind,  to  protect  itself  by  tariffs  on 
importation,  and  in  the  supposed  contingency  such 
measures  would  undoubtedly  be  resorted  to. 

After  all  this  has  been  said,  the  fact  remains  that 
our  lumbermen  do  not  provide  for  a  future  supply 
of  timber.  We  must  repeat  the  question  :  Why 
do  they  not  ? 

The  true  answer  can  be  summed  up  in  two 
words  :  Fire  and  taxes.  But  before  we  discuss 
further  these  important  factors  in  the  forestry 
problem,  we  ought  to  devote  a  chapter  to  consider- 
ing the  interest  which  the  State  and  federal  govern- 
ments have  in  the  matter.  After  we  have  done  so 
we  may  be  in  a  better  condition  to  understand  the 
part  played  by  the  government  in  the  question  of 
fire  protection  and  taxation  of  forest  property. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FORESTRY    AND  GOVERNMENT 

/^^OVERNMENT  may  have  an  interest  in  for- 
^-J  estry  matters  in  two  different  ways  :  It  may 
be  the  owner  of  forests,  or  it  may  find  that  the 
general  welfare  of  the  country  is  seriously  affected 
by  the  manner  in  which  the  forests  are  managed, 
and  therefore  desire  to  regulate  such  management 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 

As  everybody  knows,  the  government  of  the 
United  States  has  from  its  incipiency  been  the 
greatest  land-owner  of  the  country.  A  very  large 
part  of  its  land  was  and  still  is  covered  with  original 
forests.  The  policy  of  Congress  has  been  until 
very  lately  to  dispose  of  these  public  lands  tc* 
private  parties  to  be  utilized  for  agricultural,  gra- 
zing, mining,  or  lumbering  purposes,  as  the  case 
might  be.  At  first  the  lands  were  sold  outright,  a 
policy  which  resulted  in  large  tracts  going  into  the 
hands  of  speculators.  Then  various  devices  were 
tried  for  making  sure  of  the  lands  being  taken  up 
by  actual  settlers.  The  most  important  of  these 
devices  was  the  Homestead  Act  of  1862,  with  its 
amendments,  by  which  patents  to  not  to  exceed 
1 60  acres  are  issued,  without  payments  except  a 

161 


1 62  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

small  registration  fee,  to  any  settler  after  he  has 
resided  on  the  land  and  improved  it  for  five  years. 
Large  tracts  were  also  granted  to  various  railway 
companies,  in  aid  of  their  building  railroads  through 
unsettled  territory,  and  all  of  the  new  States  carved 
out  of  the  public  domain  were  given  a  part  of  the 
lands  within  their  limits.  The  grants  to  States 
were  mostly  coupled  with  the  condition  that  they 
were  to  be  used  in  aid  of  various  public  institutions 
to  be  established,  such  as  schools,  universities, 
agricultural  colleges,  and  so  forth.  Large  grants 
were  also  made  for  drainage  purposes,  and  the 
courts  have  held  that  the  States  had  the  right  to 
judge  how  much  of  the  revenue  derived  from  them 
was  needed  for  that  object,  and  that  they  might 
divert  the  rest  to  something  else.  So  this  class  of 
lands,  at  least,  is  held  by  the  States  virtually  with- 
out being  burdened  with  any  trust.  The  States 
have  mostly  followed  the  example  of  the  general 
government  and  disposed  of  these  lands  to  private 
parties  as  fast  as  a  demand  was  found  for  them. 
The  result  is  that  the  older  States  which  were 
benefited  by  these  grants  have  but  little  public 
land  left,  while  the  younger  ones  still  have  con- 
siderable tracts,  much  of  it  not  yet  surveyed  and 
patented.  Suppose  that  a  State  should  decide  to 
retain  possession  of  such  public  lands  as  are  fit  for 
the  maintenance  of  forests,  and  manage  them  as 
such.  What  objects  could  be  held  in  view  by  such 
a  policy  ? 

Clearly,  the  State  might  proceed  just  as  a  private 


Forestry  and  Government  163 

owner  would,  and  attempt  by  proper  silvicultural 
treatment  to  derive  the  greatest  possible  revenue 
from  them.  This  policy  is  followed  by  many  of 
the  European  states  where  forestry  most  flour- 
ishes, and  it  is  well  known  that  several  of  the 
states  of  the  German  Empire,  as  well  as  France 
and  other  countries,  derive  a  very  considerable 
part  of  their  revenue  from  such  public  forests. 

The  objections  to  such  a  course  are  obvious,  both 
from  an  economic  and  a  political  standpoint.  They 
are  the  same  objections  which  are  usually  urged 
against  the  conduct  of  a  business  enterprise  by 
public  authorities.  Raising  timber  and  other  forest 
products  for  the  market  is  not  a  proper  govern- 
mental function.  It  smacks  of  paternalism  and 
socialism,  and  is  opposed  to  the  settled  policy  of 
the  American  people.  It  would  be  folly  to  deny 
the  weight  of  these  objections.  Without  entering 
upon  the  controversy  as  to  how  far  the  adoption 
of  socialistic  measures  might  be  wise,  we  may  say 
that  no  American  government  will,  for  many  years 
to  come,  enter  upon  the  business  of  forestry  simply 
as  a  convenient  means  of  raising  a  revenue. 

But  there  may  be  other  reasons  why  it  should 
be  expedient  to  permanently  maintain  public  for- 
ests, so  that  the  revenue  becomes  a  mere  incident 
to  more  important  objects.  If  a  State,  or  the 
federal  government,  should  become  convinced  that 
the  continued  existence  of  forests  capable  of  pro- 
ducing commercial  timber  and  other  forest  products 
was  absolutely  demanded  by  the  public  welfare, 


1 64  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

and  that  private  enterprise  could  not  be  relied  upon 
to  maintain  such  forests,  then  the  policy  of  public 
forest  maintenance  might  well  be  resorted  to,  not- 
withstanding the  objections  mentioned  above. 

I  dare  say  that  none  but  the  extreme  followers 
of  Adam  Smith  would  deny  that  government  ought 
to  shape  its  measures  so  as  to  prevent,  if  possible, 
the  decay  of  so  important  a  series  of  industries  as 
those  depending  upon  forests  for  their  raw  material. 
The  majority  of  the  American  people,  which  favor 
a  system  of  protective  tariff,  will  not  object  to  a 
reasonable  internal  policy  of  protection  to  so  vital 
a  source  of  national  wealth  as  the  forests,  and  if 
the  people  become  convinced  that  nothing  but  gov- 
ernment management  can  assure  the  permanency 
of  forests,  the  bugaboo  of  "  paternalism  "  or  "  so- 
cialism "  will  not  terrify  them. 

Now,  I  am  very  far  from  arguing  that  it  has 
been  demonstrated  that,  taking  the  country  as  a 
whole,  private  forest  management  cannot  be  made 
a  business  success.  I  believe  that  even  under  pres- 
ent conditions  it  can,  in  many  cases,  be  made  to 
pay,  and  that  as  soon  as  by  proper  legislation  the 
problems  of  fire  protection  and  taxation,  which  will 
be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter,  have  been  solved, 
it  will  pay  well  in  all  localities  where  it  is  proper 
that  forests  should  grow.  But  even  if  this  is  true, 
as  the  future  will  undoubtedly  show,  it  will  be  wise 
to  have  by  the  side  of  private  forest  enterprises  a 
system  of  public  forests,  managed  according  to  the 
most  approved  business  principles. 


Forestry  and  Government  165 

A  forest,  under  reasonable  natural  and  economic 
conditions,  can  be  made  the  source  of  a  fair,  steady 
income  proportioned  to  the  investment.  But  like 
all  safe  investments,  very  large  profits  need  not  be 
expected.  It  takes  more  self-restraint  than  the 
average,  speculative  American  has  at  his  com- 
mand in  times  of  "boom"  and  business  activity, 
when  high  profits  are  being  made  on  every  hand, 
to  resist  the  temptation  of  turning  one's  growing 
timber  prematurely  into  cash  and  investing  the 
proceeds  elsewhere.  For  after  a  certain  age  a 
forest  lends  itself  very  readily  to  being  made  cash. 
Although  the  trees  may  still  be  far  from  the  age 
when  they  would  be  cut  most  profitably,  they  will 
yield  a  large  quantity  of  lumber  and  find  a  ready 
market.  If  the  owner  should  be  in  financial  diffi- 
culties, the  felling  of  his  growing  forest  would  be 
one  of  the  best  means  of  obtaining  the  money  to 
save  him.  In  Europe  much  of  the  private  forest 
property  is  protected  by  entails  and  other  legal 
devices  to  prevent  waste.  Still  greater  tracts  are 
ancestral  estates  and  their  owners  are  restrained  by 
sentimental  reasons  from  destroying  them,  but 
even  there  it  has  been  found  by  experience  that 
private  ownership  cannot  be  trusted  to  prevent  an 
excessive  diminution  of  forest-covered  area,  nor  to 
insure  a  rational  treatment  of  forests.  For  this 
reason  many  of  the  European  states  are  gradually 
purchasing  more  and  more  of  the  private  forests 
for  public  management.  In  the  United  States  we 
will  probably  find,  for  the  same  reasons,  that 


1 66  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

public  ownership  cannot  be  entirely  dispensed  with. 
Exclusive  state  forestry  would  perhaps  not  be  de- 
sirable because  it  would  create  a  state  monopoly  in 
the  raw  material  of  some  of  the  most  important 
industries.  Such  a  thing  is  tolerable  only  under  a 
despotic  or  a  socialistic  government.  As  long  as 
we  desire  to  have  neither,  a  mixed  system  will 
probably  be  best,  in  which  public  and  private  own- 
ership is  represented  in  such  proportion  that  per- 
manency of  supply  is  insured  by  the  one  and  fair 
treatment  of  the  consumer  by  the  competition  of 
the  other. 

There  is  a  class  of  forests  which  ought  to  be 
maintained  irrespective  of  revenue  or  questions  of 
supplying  raw  material  to  industries.  These  are 
forests  which  protect  the  water  supply  of  river  sys- 
tems. This  branch  of  the  subject  has  been  given 
rather  excessive  prominence  by  most  writers  on 
forestry  in  this  country,  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
public  has  been  led  to  believe  that  it  embraces  the 
whole  of  the  forestry  problem.  Much  indiscrimi- 
nate theorizing  has  been  indulged  in  about  the 
influence  of  forests  on  climate,  rainfall,  waterflow, 
and  erosion.  Much  of  this  has  not  been  verified 
sufficiently  by  actual  observation  or  experiment  to 
be  at  all  above  question.  Some  of  the  favorite 
statements  of  popular  writers  are  directly  false ; 
others  are  true  with  important  qualifications. 

No  assertion  is  more  familiar  than  that  the  fer- 
tility of  the  countries  surrounding  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  has,  within  historical  times,  become 


Forestry  and  Government  167 

greatly  reduced  on  account  of  the  destruction  of 
forests.  It  has  not  been  established,  however,  that 
these  countries  had  a  very  much  larger  forest  area 
in  ancient  times,  or  that  with  rational  methods  of 
agriculture  they  would  not  be  as  productive  to-day 
as  they  ever  were.  Just  so  it  would  be  pretty 
hard  to  prove  that  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
North  American  continent  is  in  danger  of  being 
turned  into  a  desert  on  account  of  the  destruction 
of  forests,  even  if  it  proceeded  with  much  greater 
rapidity.  The  whole  question  of  the  influence  of 
forests  on  climate  is  still  under  investigation,  and 
many  more  and  systematic  observations  are  neces- 
sary before  it  can  be  considered  settled. 

However,  a  few  facts  in  this  regard  may  be  taken 
as  above  dispute.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
extent  to  which  the  general  climate  of  a  country  is 
affected  by  forests  is  overrated,  but  they  certainly 
affect  the  conditions  in  their  own  immediate  vicin- 
ity. The  absence  from  forest  areas  of  the  hot, 
scorching  winds  so  inimical  to  agriculture  on  our 
treeless  plains  is  one  of  the  instances  of  such  influ- 
ence. Large  areas  of  forest  also  seem  to  have  a 
tendency,  similar  to  large  bodies  of  water,  to  lower 
the  average  temperature  of  summer  and  raise  that 
of  winter,  but  this  is  more  doubtful.  Whether 
forests  tend  to  increase  rainfall,  as  is  often  asserted, 
is,  to  say  the  least,  not  proven.  The  most  con- 
spicuous and  best  ascertained  effect  of  forests  upon 
natural  conditions  is  the  manner  in  which  they 
regulate  the  flow  of  streams  and  surface  water. 


1 68  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

The  humus  accumulating  on  the  floor  of  forests, 
the  litter  of  dry  leaves,  the  cushions  of  moss  and 
covering  of  herbage  have  a  tendency  to  soak  up 
the  rain-water  and  hold  it  much  longer  than  it 
would  be  held  by  the  comparatively  thin  vegetable 
covering  of  grass-covered  areas,  let  alone  slopes 
devoid  of  dense  vegetation.  The  shade  of  the 
forest  also  retards  evaporation  of  the  water  after  it 
has  fallen,  and  the  tangle  of  dead  trees,  branches, 
and  leaves  often  obstructs  the  flow  of  streams  and 
causes  the  water  to  form  pools  and  swamps  that 
are  drained  but  slowly.  The  tendency  of  forest 
covering  is,  therefore,  to  make  the  processes  of 
evaporation,  percolation  of  the  ground,  and  run- 
ning off  of  surface  water  proceed  much  slower  than 
in  the  open  country.  Consequently,  the  rivers  fed 
from  forest  regions  are  apt  to  have  a  more  regular 
flow.  The  floods  after  heavy  rains,  or  after  the 
melting  of  the  snow,  will  not  be  quite  so  high,  and 
the  low-water  stage  will  not  come  quite  so  quickly 
after  the  rain  has  ceased.  So  much  is  certainly 
true.  But  it  is  not  correct  to  assume  that  the 
great  floods  occasionally  doing  so  much  damage 
along  the  Mississippi  and  other  great  river  systems 
have  been  caused  by  the  destruction  of  forests 
around  the  headwaters.  In  the  first  place,  the 
deforestation  around  these  headwaters  has  not  been 
excessive.  In  the  second  place,  great  floods  were 
known  long  before  settlement  in  these  regions  had 
made  the  slightest  inroads  upon  forests,  as  can  be 
learned  from  the  notes  scattered  through  the 


Forestry  and  Government  169 

writings  of  the  early  travellers.  Much  more  con- 
spicuous than  in  the  floods  of  the  great  rivers  is  the 
influence  of  forest  disappearance  on  the  dwindling 
of  small  rivers  and  brooks,  and  the  occasional  dry- 
ing up  of  springs.  This  process  is  quite  noticeable 
in  all  regions  that  have  been  settled  within  the  last 
fifty  years  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the 
phenomenon  is  caused  exclusively  by  the  removal 
of  forests. 

The  greater  instability  in  the  water  stages  of 
rivers,  the  more  destructive  freshets  and  protracted 
low  water,  which  are  characteristic  of  streams  in  a 
district  with  little  or  no  forest  cover,  are,  of  course, 
injurious  in  many  ways.  But  the  greatest  damage 
caused  by  them  is  that  of  over-erosion.  A  stream 
running  rapidly  at  high  water  is  a  far  more  effective 
agent  than  a  moderate  stage  of  water  in  tearing 
away  soil  and  carrying  it  down  to  be  deposited 
where  it  may  not  be  wanted.  What  is  true  of  the 
river  is  true  of  the  smallest  rill.  The  danger  of  such 
excessive  erosion  is  but  small  on  plains  or  districts 
with  slightly  rolling  topography.  But  among  the 
hills  and  mountains  it  becomes  very  great.  Where 
a  forest  covers  the  steep  sides  of  a  hill  the  rush  of 
water  into  the  valley  is  very  much  retarded,  but  on 
an  open  slope  it  can  act  with  full  force,  as  may  be 
seen  at  every  such  hillside,  where  the  rain-water  is 
gradually  wearing  ravines  into  the  surface.  Where 
the  mountains  are  deprived  of  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  their  forests,  the  streams  occupying  their 
valleys  are  sure  to  receive  a  much  greater  amount 


i;0    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

of  detritus  than  in  forested  districts,  and  the  low- 
lands will  gradually  be  rendered  infertile  by  their 
soil  being  covered,  at  every  freshet,  with  a  layer  of 
gravel  and  sand  carried  down  from  above.  This 
experience  has  been  had,  among  other  places,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  has  been  among  the  chief  reasons 
which  have  led  that  State  to  enter  upon  a  course  of 
reforestation  at  State  expense.  The  State  has  be- 
gun to  purchase  large  tracts  around  the  headwaters 
of  the  Delaware,  Susquehanna,  and  Ohio,  with  a 
view  towards  preserving  them  as  forests,  so  that  the 
harmful  phenomena  of  over-erosion  may  be  avoided. 
For  the  present,  the  question  of  obtaining  a  reve- 
nue from  these  lands  by  silvicultural  operations  is 
not  considered  by  the  authorities,  although  that  also 
may  come  in  time.  Forests  which  are  selected  with 
such  particular  regard  to  their  protective  effect  are 
likely  not  to  be  in  such  localities  as  would  promise 
a  very  good  crop  of  timber  or  proper  transportation 
facilities.  It  need  not  be  expected,  therefore,  that 
private  parties  ever  will  find  it  expedient  to  protect 
and  manage  them.  In  such  cases  it  is  absolutely 
required  that  the  public  authorities  assume  the  bur- 
den, and  maintain  such  forests  even  if  they  will  be 
a  permanent  drain  upon  the  public  treasury.  The 
money  so  expended  will  return  into  the  pockets  of 
the  people  with  interest,  through  the  protection  that 
forests  of  this  class  afford  to  the  welfare  of  man.  If 
the  land  in  localities  where  forests  are  required  for 
protective  purposes  has  already  been  transferred  to 
private  hands,  the  only  safe  way  for  government  is 


Forestry  and  Government  171 

to  reacquire  the  title  to  them.  In  some  countries  it 
is  attempted  to  regulate  the  manner  in  which  the 
private  owners  of  such  forests  may  manage  them  so 
as  to  keep  them  from  endangering  the  public  wel- 
fare by  removing  them  or  impairing  their  effective- 
ness as  a  protection.  Such  violent  encroachments 
on  the  right  of  the  people  to  do  what  they  like  with 
their  own  property  are  not  to  be  thought  of  in  this 
country,  and  there  is  nothing  left  but  for  the  pub- 
lic to  take  such  tracts  into  their  own  hands. 

In  the  western  half  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent forests  are  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the 
mountain  ranges,  while  the  surrounding  plains  and 
plateaus  are  devoid  of  timber.  As  much  of  this 
region  is  arid  or  semi-arid,  precipitation  being 
largely  confined  to  snowfall  on  the  higher  eleva- 
tions, agriculture  and  every  other  form  of  civilized 
life  is  dependent  upon  artificial  irrigation.  The 
water  for  these  works  must  be  derived  principally 
from  the  snows  accumulating  on  the  higher  moun- 
tain slopes,  and  the  forests  covering  the  steep  sides 
are  of  the  greatest  importance  in  protecting  the 
irrigation  works.  Without  them  the  floods  at  the 
time  of  melting  snows  and  after  heavy  showers  in 
summer  would  rush  down  with  such  impetuosity 
that  the  dams,  basins,  and  canals  could  not  with- 
stand their  force.  The  erosion  of  the  mountain 
sides  would  be  so  great  that  the  valleys  together 
with  the  irrigation  works  would  be  quickly  filled  up 
with  gravel,  silt,  and  mud.  The  United  States, 
which  still  holds  most  of  the  land  in  this  region, 


172  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry- 
has  seen  the  absolute  necessity  of  preserving  the 
mountain  forests  and  has  recently  set  aside  a  num- 
ber of  large  forest  tracts  in  various  parts  of  the 
mountain  regions,  to  be  preserved  as  protective 
forests.  We  will,  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  briefly 
treat  of  some  of  the  discussions  which  have  arisen 
out  of  the  setting  aside  of  these  reservations. 

There  has  been  some  controversy  on  the  manner 
in  which  the  Rocky  Mountain  forests  act  upon  the 
melting  of  the  snow  and  thereby  affect  the  irriga- 
tion problem.  It  is  actually  argued  by  some  that 
the  presence  of  forests  is  injurious  instead  of  bene- 
ficial. It  is  said  that  the  forests  prevent  the  drifting 
of  snow  and  its  accumulation  in  immense  heaps 
filling  the  ravines  and  depressions.  The  compara- 
tively light  and  evenly  distributed  snow  covering  in 
the  forest  melts  rapidly  and  runs  off  into  the  valleys 
early  in  spring ;  the  very  deep  snow  masses  filling 
the  ravines  do  not  melt  until  late  in  summer,  and 
therefore  supply  a  full  stage  of  water  long  after  the 
spring  freshet  has  run  by.  There  is  some  truth  in 
this  observation,  but  by  no  means  as  much  as  some 
of  those  advancing  it  imagine.  In  the  first  place, 
something  depends  on  the  character  of  the  forest. 
In  localities  where  it  is  rather  thin,  the  drifting  and 
filling  of  ravines  is  not  by  any  means  entirely  pre- 
vented. On  the  other  hand,  where  it  is  very  dense, 
its  own  shade  tends  to  retard  the  melting,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  depth  of  the  snow  does  in  the  ravines. 
Again,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  much  of  the 
melting  snow  does  not  run  off  on  the  surface,  but 


Forestry  and  Government  173 

percolates  the  ground.  Necessarily,  where  the  snow 
is  all  drifted  together  in  certain  localities,  while  the 
rest  of  the  ground  is  bare,  a  much  smaller  percentage 
of  the  water  has  a  chance  to  enter  the  soil  than 
where  the  whole  ground  is  covered  and  every 
square  inch  of  it  can  absorb  its  share  of  moisture. 
The  water  so  entering  the  soil  is  the  source  from 
which  the  springs  and  smaller  watercourses  receive 
their  supply  during  the  summer  and  continue  to 
feed  the  larger  streams  long  after  even  the  snow 
masses  of  the  ravines  are  melted. 

There  is  a  way  of  utilizing  forests  for  the  benefit 
of  the  community  which  comes  properly,  perhaps, 
within  the  province  of  the  municipal  and  other 
local  authorities  rather  than  the  State  and  federal 
governments.  Forests  are  not  merely  places  where 
raw  material  for  human  industries  is  produced, 
nor  tracts  of  land  which  protect  mountain  sides 
from  over-erosion  and  regulate  the  water-flow  of 
the  streams.  They  are  also  the  great  play-grounds 
of  nations,  where  thousands  flock  to  gain  new 
health  and  vigor,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral, 
and  find  a  temporary  escape  from  the  strain  and 
stress  of  modern  civilized  existence.  The  sports- 
man with  rod  and  gun,  the  lover  of  scenery  and 
outdoor  life,  would  feel  it  a  serious  deprivation  if 
he  were  robbed  of  the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  cool 
shades  of  the  forest.  To  the  inhabitants  of  the 
regions  where  the  forests  are,  the  annual  arrival  of 
the  city  people,  as  tourists  or  summer  residents,  is 
a  very  important  matter  of  dollars  and  cents.  Not 


174    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

a  few  small  towns  and  villages  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  could  be  named  which  are  absolutely 
dependent  for  their  prosperity  upon  their  reputation 
as  "  summer  resorts."  Notwithstanding  this  fact, 
and  the  constantly  greater  importance  which  the 
tourist  and  summer-resident  business  assumes,  very 
little  is  done  by  the  people  who  desire  to  derive  the 
pecuniary  benefit  from  it  to  make  their  localities 
more  attractive.  This  is  particularly  true  about 
the  western  resorts.  The  idea  of  a  summer  resort 
entertained  by  the  average  inhabitant  of  these 
places  is  a  lake,  a  lot  of  boats  and  fishing-tackle, 
and  a  hotel,  possibly  a  few  cottages  standing  in  the 
midst  of  an  unkempt  lawn  with  a  few  trees  scattered 
over  it.  Of  course,  this  is  all  very  well  as  far  as  it 
goes,  but  what  a  mass  of  unused  opportunities  there 
is  here  !  All  over  the  Northwestern  States,  as  well 
as  in  many  other  sections  of  the  country,  there  are 
thousands  of  inland  lakes  lying  in  a  country  abound- 
ing with  forests.  Not  rarely  these  woods  are  on 
hills  and  ridges  unfit  for  agriculture.  They  are 
now  in  private  hands,  parcelled  out  among  many 
small  owners  who  have  no  use  for  them  except  for 
fire-wood.  Being  ignorant  of  the  very  rudiments 
of  silviculture,  these  owners  allow  them  to  dete- 
riorate from  year  to  year,  till  finally  they  will  be 
nothing  but  unattractive  brushlands. 

The  summer  residents  would  gladly  enjoy  roam- 
ing through  these  woods.  They  are  soon  tired  of 
the  monotonous  round  from  the  hotel  piazza  to  the 
tennis  ground,  thence  into  the  boat  and  out  on 


Forestry  and  Government  175 

the  hot,  sunshiny  lake.  Fish  and  fishing  become 
burdensome  after  a  while  ;  they  would  rather  hear 
the  thrushes  and  warblers,  or  see  the  rabbits  skip 
through  the  underbrush.  The  woods  are  there,  less 
than  half  a  mile  away,  but  to  the  majority  of  the 
summer  guests  as  inaccessible  as  if  they  were  on 
another  planet.  There  are  no  roads  through  the 
woods.  As  if  in  mockery,  the  hotel-keeper  adver- 
tises the  fine  drives  of  the  surrounding  country. 
But  every  road  that  an  ordinary  vehicle  dare  ven- 
ture on  runs  through  the  sunny,  uninteresting 
fields  down  in  the  valleys.  The  woods,  where  one 
would  like  to  drive,  are  carefully  fenced  off,  and 
only  the  more  venturesome  among  the  guests  ever 
enter  their  shades.  Then  they  are  left  to  chance 
as  to  whether  they  get  the  most  enjoyment  out  of 
them  or  not.  There  is  no  guide-post,  not  even  a 
foot-path  leading  to  the  spot  where  that  fine  view 
of  the  lake  can  be  had.  The  particularly  fine  group 
of  large  trees  at  the  other  side  can  be  found  only 
by  accident,  and  then  you  must  crawl  through  four 
barb-wire  fences,  which  keeps  the  ladies  from  ever 
reaching  the  spot. 

Such  a  picture  is  true  of  hundreds  of  American 
summer  resorts,  even  some  of  the  most  famous 
ones.  Nobody  seems  to  think  of  the  enormous 
advantage  a  place  of  that  kind  would  derive  if  the 
picturesque  surroundings  were  made  accessible  to 
the  travelling  public.  Suppose  that  a  tract  of  for- 
est in  the  hilly  portion  of  the  neighborhood  were 
in  some  way  acquired  by  the  village,  town,  or 


176  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

county.  Suppose  the  authorities  engaged  a  com- 
petent superintendent,  who  would  make  roads  and 
foot-paths,  put  up  benches  and  other  resting-places 
in  the  appropriate  spots,  and  in  other  ways  improve 
the  tract  for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  Would  not 
such  a  measure  add  immensely  to  the  attractions 
of  the  summer  resort,  and  would  it  not  easily  out- 
strip all  its  competitors  that  lacked  these  accessible 
woods  ?  But  the  expense,  you  say.  Why,  if  the 
management  were  at  all  competent  there  would  be 
no  expense.  The  money  to  purchase  the  land 
would  be  borrowed,  and  thereafter  the  annual  in- 
come from  the  forest,  under  proper  silvicultural 
treatment,  ought  to  be  enough  to  pay  running  ex- 
penses, interest,  and  successive  small  instalments 
to  repay  the  principal.  If  the  public  authorities 
did  not  care  to  undertake  the  burden,  it  would  be 
almost  as  well  if  an  association  were  formed  for  the 
same  purpose.  There  could  be  no  objection  to  a 
small  toll  being  charged  to  vehicles  entering  the 
tract,  and  that  would  aid  materially  in  defraying 
the  cost.  Such  associations  hold  considerable 
tracts  of  forest  land  in  the  Adirondacks  and  other 
parts  of  the  East,  and  cannot  but  be  considered  a 
benefit  to  the  whole  public,  even  where  they  are 
primarily  organized  for  the  pleasure  of  their  own 
members. 

Another  branch  of  this  subject  deserves  consid- 
eration. The  tendency  among  the  well-to-do  all 
over  the  country  now  is  to  maintain  their  own  pri- 
vate summer  residences  instead  of  spending  their 


Forestry  and  Government  177 

vacations  at  summer  hotels.  There  are  many  of 
those  northwestern  lakes  I  have  mentioned  the 
shores  of  which  are  entirely  occupied  by  such  sum- 
mer residents.  There  are  some  considerable  bodies 
of  water  where  a  tourist  or  other  stranger  cannot 
get  to  the  water's  edge  without  passing  through 
somebody's  private  garden  or  park ;  or  if  some- 
how he  has  got  into  a  boat,  he  cannot  land  any- 
where without  being  a  trespasser — not  a  mere 
technical  one,  but  a  trespasser  whose  presence  is 
hotly  resented,  as  is  shown  by  the  warning  signs 
that  greet  him  on  every  hand.  This  movement 
towards  excluding  the  public  from  places  of  this 
kind  will  go  on  with  increased  speed  until  it  has 
practically  reached  every  available  spot  of  beauty. 
Aside  from  the  wrong  thus  done  to  the  great  mass 
of  people  for  the  benefit  of  a  minority,  what  will 
be  the  effect  of  this  change  upon  the  permanent 
inhabitants  of  the  region  ?  At  present  they  derive 
large  revenues  from  the  travellers  by  furnishing 
them  with  board,  lodging,  boats,  vehicles,  acting 
as  guides,  and  so  forth.  But  to  this  revenue  the 
people  who  have  their  own  summer  residences  con- 
tribute very  little.  They  have  their  own  boats  and 
teams,  get  their  supplies  from  the  city,  and  hardly 
ever  patronize  the  local  tradesman.  If  they  are  al- 
lowed to  drive  out  the  transient  visitors  by  more  or 
less  completely  excluding  them  from  all  the  beauti- 
ful spots  to  be  found  in  the  place,  the  permanent 
inhabitants  will  lose  nearly  all  the  economic  bene- 
fits to  be  derived  from  the  vacation  season  of  the 


178    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

city  people.  The  protection  against  this  danger 
evidently  lies  in  reserving  a  portion  of  the  sur- 
roundings to  the  public  by  letting  the  local  au- 
thorities, or  associations,  acquire  the  possession 
and  manage  these  parks  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

There  is  one  branch  of  forestry  work,  indepen- 
dent of  the  proprietorship  and  management  of  the 
woods,  which  is  pre-eminently  within  the  province 
of  governments  and  public  institutions.  That  is 
the  acquiring  and  dissemination  of  information  re- 
garding our  forests  and  forest  industries.  Work 
of  this  kind  can  be  done  by  private  parties  to  a 
limited  extent  only.  The  greater  means  of  gov- 
ernmental agencies  and  of  the  great  universities 
of  the  country  are  necessary  to  do  it  effectively. 
Facts  regarding  the  life,  history,  and  properties  of 
trees;  their  relations  to  geological,  topographical, 
and  meteorological  conditions ;  their  interdepen- 
dence with  other  plants  and  with  animals, — all  these 
have  to  be  gathered,  collated,  and  studied,  if  silvi- 
culture in  this  country  is  to  be  based  on  accurate 
knowledge  instead  of  being  forced  to  trust  in 
chance.  Much  work  has  been  done  in  this  direc- 
tion, mostly  by  men  of  science  who  had  no  im- 
mediate pecuniary  interest  in  the  phenomena  they 
were  studying.  But  the  field  to  be  covered,  in- 
cluding, as  it  does,  nearly  all  the  natural  sciences 
and  extending  over  a  whole  continent,  is  so  im- 
mense that  all  that  has  been  learned  is  but  an 
insignificant  beginning  of  what  should  be  known. 
What  is  true  of  the  biological  side  of  forestry  is 


Forestry  and  Government  179 

also  true  of  the  economic  side.  Thorough  and 
reliable  information  on  markets,  inventions  affect- 
ing the  use  of  woods,  legislative  measures  in  the 
various  States,  and  economic  conditions  generally 
must  be  at  the  command  of  the  forester  for  the 
proper  conduct  of  his  business.  The  owners  of 
woodlands,  the  lumbermen,  and  other  exploiters 
of  forests  cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  expected  to  acquire 
such  information  for  themselves,  still  less  to  pub- 
lish it  for  the  benefit  of  others.  They  rarely  have 
the  training  required  to  make  scientific  investiga- 
tions even  of  the  simplest  sort.  If  they  had  the 
ability,  yet  they  would  lack  the  time  and  inclina- 
tion to  do  work  of  this  kind.  The  work  must 
be  done,  not  for  the  interest  of  these  exploiters 
merely,  but  in  the  interest  of  the  nation,  which 
needs  the  forest  and  the  forest  industries.  There- 
fore it  is  eminently  within  the  province  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  provide  means  and  men  to  do  work  of 
this  kind.  It  must  be  said  that  both  our  federal 
and  State  governments  have  done  more  in  this 
branch  of  forestry  work  than  in  any  other,  yet 
much  still  remains  to  be  done.  Just  what  the 
various  scientific  bureaus  of  the  United  States  and 
of  many  of  the  States  have  accomplished  in  this 
direction,  we  will  outline  in  another  chapter.  In 
this  place  we  merely  want  to  make  the  point,  that 
no  matter  what  our  view  may  be  regarding  the 
expediency  of  private  or  public  systems  of  forest 
management,  we  cannot  deny  that  here  is  a  great 
field  for  the  activity  of  governmental  agencies. 


i8o    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

So  far  in  this  chapter  we  have  treated  the  rela- 
tions of  the  public  authorities  to  the  forestry  prob- 
lem principally  from  the  side  of  the  executive  and 
administrative  branch  of  government.  We  have 
discussed  the  government  as  a  forest  owner,  and 
seen  that  it  may  manage  such  property  in  the 
manner  of  private  parties,  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing a  profit,  and  by  the  income  the  treasury  ob- 
tains from  this  source  lighten  the  burden  of  the 
taxpayers.  We  have  also  learned  that  the  ques- 
tion of  making  a  profit  on  the  investment  may  be 
left  in  the  background,  and  the  government  be 
willing  to  own  and  manage  forests  although  for 
one  reason  or  the  other  a  profit  cannot  be  ex- 
pected, and  the  forest  is  a  source  of  expense  rather 
than  revenue.  This  may  be  either  because  the 
authorities  feel  that  without  government  manage- 
ment a  permanent  supply  of  raw  material  for  the 
various  industries  cannot  be  depended  upon  ;  or 
the  burden  is  undertaken  because  otherwise  forests 
which  are  necessary  to  protect  the  water  supply  of 
rivers  or  irrigation  works  would  be  in  danger  of 
destruction.  We  have  mentioned  how  municipal- 
ities could  serve  their  interests  if  they  acquired  the 
possession  of  forest  tracts  as  recreation  grounds 
for  their  own  people  and  summer  visitors.  We 
have  also  spoken  of  the  duty  of  government  in 
acquiring  and  disseminating  knowledge  regarding 
all  matters  pertaining  to  forestry. 

But  aside  from  such  executive  and  administrative 
functions,  the  action  of  government  is  of  the  utmost 


Forestry  and  Government  181 

importance  by  the  laws  it  may  make,  and  which 
through  their  intentional  or  unforeseen  action  may 
exert  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  forestry  of 
the  country.  To  be  sure,  legislation  is  not  all-pow- 
erful in  this  any  more  than  in  other  spheres.  It 
cannot  create  a  forest  industry  where  the  natural 
and  economic  conditions  do  not  favor  it.  No  legis- 
lative fiat  can  produce  a  forest  where  nature  disap- 
proves. But  it  can  to  a  great  extent  create  favorable 
economic  conditions,  for  the  maintenance  and  ra- 
tional exploitation  of  forests.  By  legislation  we 
can  on  the  one  hand  protect  ourselves  against  the 
greed  of  private  interests,  which  look  exclusively 
towards  the  immediate  profit,  heedless  of  the  rights 
of  future  generations.  We  can  also  protect  our 
woodland  owners  and  lumbermen  from  injuries  done 
to  them  and  their  business  by  the  recklessness  and 
uncontrolled  self-interest  of  others.  Legislation 
can  not  only  do  these  things,  but  it  is  our  duty  as  a 
people  to  see  that  they  are  done.  More  than  that, 
by  unwise  legislation  we  may  impose  upon  forest 
exploiters  such  burdens  that  their  business  becomes 
unprofitable  if  carried  on  with  a  view  to  the  greatest 
advantage  of  both  the  owners  and  the  community, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  legislation  may  create  con- 
ditions by  which  the  interests  of  the  forest  exploit- 
ers and  the  people  are  brought  into  harmony. 
Considering  all  this,  we  may  well  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  legislative  relations  of  government 
to  the  forestry  problem  are  even  more  important 
than  its  executive  or  administrative  action,  and  it  is 


1 82  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

worth  while  to  devote  some  separate  chapters  to 
forest  legislation.  In  those  chapters  we  will  treat,  in 
addition  to  a  number  of  minor  subjects,  the  ques- 
tions of  fire  protection  and  taxation  of  forests. 
These  two  questions,  the  reader  remembers,  afford 
a  solution  to  the  problem  why  the  lumbermen  and 
other  owners  of  cut-over  timber-lands  do  not  reforest 
their  holdings  ;  and  we  will  see  that  the  way  to  deal 
with  these  questions  is  by  proper  legislation. 


CHAPTER  IX 

FIGHTING    FIRES    AND    THIEVES 

IN  the  cultivated  forests  of  Europe,  fires  are  rare 
events  and,  if  they  do  break  out,  cause  compar- 
atively little  damage.  In  British  India,  forest  fires 
used  to  be  as  destructive  as  they  are  in  North  Amer- 
ica. But  since  the  government,  through  the  adminis- 
trative genius  of  Sir  Diedrich  Brandis,  has  taken 
the  work  of  rational  forest  management  in  hand, 
they  have  practically  ceased  in  all  districts  to  which 
the  work  of  the  forester  has  extended.  These  ex- 
amples show  that  forests,  even  where  they  are  situ- 
ated in  the  midst  of  dense  settlements  and  are 
constantly  being  lumbered  over,  are  not  necessarily 
subject  to  great  danger  of  fire.  But  they  show  by 
no  means  that  the  salvation  of  American  forests  lies 
in  an  adoption  of  the  protective  measures  relied  on 
by  these  foreign  countries.  Differences  arising  out 
of  natural,  economic,  and  political  conditions  make 
it  necessary  for  us  to  work  out  our  own  salvation  in 
this,  as  in  most  other  problems  that  confront  our 
national  life. 

Readers  will  remember  that  in  an  earlier  chapter 
we  emphasized  the  fact  that  practically  every  forest 
fire  is  the  result  of  human  carelessness.  This 

183 


1 84  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

means  that  they  are  first  kindled  for  legitimate  pur- 
poses, but  afterwards  abandoned  and  left  to  go  out 
or  spread  as  accidental  conditions  favor.  In  the 
term  "  legitimate  purposes  "  we  must  here  include 
even  such  uses  of  fire  in  the  woods  as  are  in  them- 
selves injurious,  but  are  excused  by  the  necessities 
of  making  some  use  of  the  forest  while  economic 
conditions  are  such  that  more  profitable  forms  of 
management  are  not  available.  In  this  category 
belongs,  for  instance,  the  burning  up  of  valuable 
logs  by  settlers  in  clearing  their  lands,  because  they 
can  find  no  market  for  them  on  account  of  lacking 
transportation  facilities.  The  burning  of  under- 
brush to  improve  the  pasture  may  also  be  sometimes 
excused  on  the  ground  that  pasture  is  the  best  use 
the  land  can  be  put  to.  This  practice,  the  results 
of  which  have  already  been  dwelt  upon,  is  but  too 
prevalent  in  portions  of  the  Appalachian  region, 
where  most  of  the  mountain  farmers  are  miserably 
poor,  ignorant,  and  shiftless.  It  is  the  condition  of 
the  people  in  this  section  rather  than  the  economic 
circumstances  which  makes  this  wastefulness  appar- 
ently necessary.  The  firing  of  underbrush  to  im- 
prove the  pasture  is  also  indulged  in  to  some  extent 
by  the  owners  of  the  great  flocks  of  sheep  in  the 
far  West.  These  people  have  much  less  excuse  for 
doing  so  than  the  poor  mountaineers  of  Tennessee 
and  North  Carolina.  Their  business  is  at  best  one 
of  the  worst  causes  of  forest  destruction,  and  their 
immense  herds,  scattering,  as  they  do,  over  hun- 
dreds of  square  miles  to  bite  off  every  vestige 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  185 

of  young  sprouts  and  seedlings  and  trampling 
down  what  they  cannot  devour,  have  not  inaptly 
been  called  "  hoofed  locusts."  If  to  the  injury 
done  by  the  feet  and  teeth  of  the  sheep  is  added 
the  damage  by  fires  set  for  their  exclusive  benefit, 
we  can  hardly  continue  to  speak  of  a  "  legitimate  " 
industry. 

Occasionally  it  happens  that  a  fire  is  set  mali- 
ciously, with  the  express  purpose  of  doing  injury 
to  a  body  of  timber.  This,  however,  is  rare  in 
America.  The  motive  is  usually  lacking.  In  some 
parts  of  the  world  the  country  people  living  in  the 
neighborhood  of  forests  are  inimical  to  the  owners, 
because  a  rational  forest  management  interferes 
with  their  imagined  right  to  make  use  of  other 
people's  property,  and  this  hostility  every  now  and 
then  leads  to  incendiarism.  In  India,  popular  su- 
perstitions sometimes  lead  to  the  same  crime,  as 
where  a  fine  forest  in  the  Himalayas  was  destroyed 
by  village  people  as  an  offering  to  the  spirit  of 
smallpox  that  was  ravaging  the  community.  Mo- 
tives of  either  kind  are  unknown  in  this  country. 
But  it  is  suspected  by  lumbermen,  once  in  a  while, 
that  some  person  has  fired  a  body  of  timber  which 
its  owners  intended  to  let  grow  for  a  while  longer, 
in  order  to  compel  the  cutting  of  the  half-killed 
trees  to  save  them  from  destruction  by  fungi  and 
insects.  The  motive  of  the  miscreant  in  such  cases 
is  supposed  to  be  the  hope  of  getting  the  contract 
for  logging  the  timber.  How  well  founded  such 
stories  are  I  do  not  know.  As  far  as  I  am  aware, 


1 86    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

no  such  crime  was  ever  brought  home  to  anybody 
in  a  legal  proceeding. 

The  means  which  European  foresters  employ  to 
protect  the  property  under  their  care  against  fire 
are  chiefly  the  following :  in  the  first  place,  every 
forest  is  penetrated,  in  addition  to  the  main  roads, 
by  a  network  of  open  lanes,  so-called  "  fire-rides." 
These  are  kept  bare,  not  merely  of  trees  and  un- 
derbrush, but  also,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the  ranker 
vegetation  of  grass  and  herbage,  and  especially  all 
dry  and  inflammable  debris.  If  a  fire  gets  a  start, 
it  will  soon  come  to  one  of  these  rides,  where  it  is 
easily  checked.  One  not  familiar  with  the  ways  of 
forest  fires  is  likely  to  be  surprised  at  the  idea  that 
comparatively  narrow  roads  and  lanes  can  check 
conflagrations  which,  at  other  times,  destroy  whole 
forests  and  villages.  But  they  must  remember 
what  was  said  above,  that  by  far  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  forest  fires  are  not  so-called  top  fires,  which 
envelop  large  trees  with  flame  and  spread  from 
crown  to  crown.  They  are  generally  surface  fires, . 
that  merely  consume  the  dry  litter,  dead  branches, 
withered  grass,  and  such  stuff  on  the  forest  floor. 
The  moment  such  fires  come  to  a  bare  earth  road, 
or  even  to  a  lane  covered  with  sparse,  short,  and 
little  inflammable  vegetation,  they  stop  for  want  of 
fuel.  After  a  fire  has  once  attained  great  dimen- 
sions, and  especially  where  it  has  developed  into  a 
top  fire,  roads  and  lanes  are  no  longer  of  the  least 
benefit.  For  great  fires,  by  sending  currents  of 
hot  air  upward,  create  strong  winds  by  the  inrush 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  187 

of  air  to  fill  the  space  emptied  by  the  vertical  cur- 
rents. These  winds  in  turn  carry  the  flames  for- 
ward, so  that  they  easily  leap  over  roads,  and  even 
pretty  broad  watercourses.  The  object  of  fire  pro- 
tection must  always  be  to  prevent  the  blaze,  when 
it  has  once  broken  out,  from  gaining  such  dimen- 
sions that  it  becomes  uncontrollable.  The  begin- 
ning is  always  small,  and  easily  managed. 

Next  to  the  system  of  roads  and  lanes  comes  a 
careful  policing  of  the  forest.  If  there  is  some- 
body whose  business  it  is  to  see  that  no  fire  gets  a 
start,  there  is  practically  no  danger  of  appreciable 
damage  being  done.  There  is  no  reason,  of  course, 
why  the  watchman  should  not  combine  with  his  du- 
ties of  fire-guard  more  or  less  of  the  other  work  of 
the  many  kinds  constantly  to  be  done  in  a  well- 
kept  forest,  so  that  the  expense  of  maintaining  a 
guard  becomes  very  insignificant.  In  fact,  every 
person  employed  in  or  about  a  forest  naturally  be- 
comes a  fire-guard  as  soon  as  it  is  once  understood 
that  fires  must  not  be  allowed  to  smoulder.  It  is 
quite  possible  for  one  man  sufficiently  to  police  a 
forest  three  thousand  and  more  acres  in  extent. 
Forest  fires  rarely  spread  rapidly  at  the  beginning. 
They  may  smoulder  even  for  days  and  weeks  with- 
out extending  over  more  than  a  few  square  feet  of 
ground,  waiting  to  be  fanned  into  a  blaze  by  a  live- 
lier wind.  During  all  this  time  they  make  their 
presence  known  by  clouds  of  blue,  pungent  smoke 
that  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  guard's  eyes  and 
nostrils. 


1 88  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

Effective  as  these  means  of  fire  protection  have 
proven  to  be,  they  are  evidently  applicable  to  our 
conditions  to  a  limited  extent  only.  They  pre- 
suppose a  cultivated  forest  where  roads  and  rides 
either  exist  already  or  can  be  built  without  an  ex- 
pense greater  than  the  business  can  bear.  Most  of 
our  large  forests  are  remote  from  the  densely  set- 
tled districts  ;  they  extend  over  areas  immensely 
larger  than  even  the  greatest  forests  of  Central 
Europe ;  and  hardly  an  acre  of  it  has  been  subject 
to  silvicultural  operations.  Roads  are  few,  and 
before  a  network  of  roads  and  lanes  can  come  into 
existence,  many  decades  will  elapse.  Clearly,  then, 
if  we  are  to  have  fire  protection,  we  must  for  some 
time  to  come  get  it  in  a  different  manner  from  that 
prevailing  in  Europe. 

It  may  be  stated  right  here  that  the  available 
means  of  protection  here  proposed,  and  which  are 
in  partially  successful  operation  in  several  States, 
will  not,  even  if  employed  to  their  fullest  possible 
extent,  do  away  with  forest  fires  entirely.  That 
result  can  be  obtained  by  no  means  other  than 
those  adopted  in  Europe.  But  it  is  possible  to 
very  materially  reduce  the  damage  done  by  the 
flames,  and  to  reduce  the  number  of  fires  a  great 
many  times.  This  is  something  worth  doing,  es- 
pecially as  every  step  in  that  direction  will  bring  us 
nearer  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  more 
perfect  system  is  possible. 

To  let  the  reader  understand  this  matter  clearly, 
I  must  again  dwell  upon  the  point  that  all  fires  can 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  189 

easily  be  put  out  when  they  first  start.  All  effort 
must  therefore  tend  towards  a  speedy  detection  of 
the  incipient  blazes.  How  can  this  be  done? 

First  of  all  there  should  be  somebody  in  every 
forest  neighborhood  whose  express  business  it  is  to 
be  on  the  lookout  for  fires.  To  leave  this  duty  to 
the  chance  action  of  volunteers  is  to  leave  it  un- 
done. On  large,  compact  tracts  of  land  this  duty 
would  naturally  be  attended  to  by  the  owners,  who 
would  soon  enough  find  it  profitable  to  maintain 
their  own  fire  police,  but,  unfortunately,  large,  con- 
tinuous tracts  of  timber-land  owned  by  the  same 
parties  are  rare  ;  and  here  we  come  to  another  con- 
dition which  is  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  forestry 
reform  in  this  country. 

Ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment it  has  been  its  laudable  aim  to  prevent  the 
rise  of  a  class  of  large  land-owners  tilling  their 
holdings  either  by  gangs  of  hired  laborers  or 
through  the  help  of  dependent  tenants.  It  was 
rightly  judged  that  a  continuance  of  a  large  and 
influential  class  of  yeomen  farmers,  such  as  existed 
at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  in  New  England  and 
the  middle  States,  was  essential  to  the  stability  of 
democratic  institutions.  With  this  object  in  view 
the  method  of  disposing  of  the  public  lands  was 
from  time  to  time  amended.  The  recognition  of 
squatters'  rights,  the  pre-emption  and  homestead 
laws,  all  tended  to  restrict  the  acquisition  of  public 
lands  to  parcels  of  a  few  acres  by  each  individual, 
so  that  the  normal  size  of  an  American  land-owner's 


190  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

possession  is  now  the  "  quarter-section,"  or  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  When  large  portions  of 
the  public  domain  were  granted  in  aid  of  railroad 
building,  still  the  same  object  was  sought  to  be 
attained  by  giving  to  the  beneficiaries  of  these 
grants  alternate  sections  only.  In  pursuing  this 
policy  the  government  took  it  for  granted  that 
persons  taking  up  public  lands  did  so  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  farms  thereon.  Not  un- 
til the  dividing  up  of  the  government  lands 
reached  the  arid  and  mountainous  regions  of  the 
far  West  did  it  become  evident  that  all  of  the 
public  domain  could  not  be  treated  in  the  same 
manner.  Then  a  distinction  was  made  between 
agricultural,  mineral,  and  desert  lands,  and  the  last 
two  classes  were  subjected  to  different  rules  from 
the  first. 

The  settlement  of  the  older  western  States  had 
in  the  meantime  progressed  rapidly.  In  the  east- 
ern half  of  this  section,  within  the  forest  zone 
proper  and  overlapping  on  the  intermediate  or 
wooded-prairie  zone,  there  were  large  tracts  which 
we  may,  for  brevity's  sake,  call  the  "  pine  barrens," 
although  not  all  of  it  is  barren,  nor  was  all  of  it 
ever  covered  with  pine.  These  tracts,  some  of 
them  very  extensive,  were  really  little  adapted  to  ag- 
riculture, being  mostly  sandy  or  so  hilly  and  broken 
that  farming  is  rendered  difficult.  They  are  the 
natural  forest  reserves  of  the  middle  western  coun- 
try, and  here  it  was  and  is  that  most  of  the 
lumbering  operations  of  the  Northwest  were  and 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  191 

are  now  carried  on.  But,  unfortunately,  during  the 
period  when  the  settlement  of  this  section  was 
going  forward  most  actively  hardly  anybody  in  this 
country  had  yet  thought  of  the  advisability  of  re- 
serving a  portion  of  the  land  for  forests.  So  it 
came  about  that  the  really  non-agricultural  lands  of 
this  section  were  divided  up  in  the  same  checker- 
board fashion  as  the  farming  lands  proper.  Even 
now,  a  party  buying  timber-lands  buys  so  many 
"  forties,"  which  may  or  may  not  be  contiguous, 
but  are  rarely  so  for  more  than  a  few  sections  at 
a  time.  More  often,  one's  purchase  consists  of 
quarter-sections  contiguous  at  the  corners  only, 
which  is  almost  as  inconvenient  as  if  they  did  not 
touch  at  all.  The  intervening  tracts  may  belong 
to  some  other  lumber  concern,  or  they  may  be  still 
public,  or  they  may  be  held  by  settlers.  For  al- 
though the  tracts  we  now  have  in  mind  are  not 
really  fit  for  any  sort  of  agriculture,  there  are 
many  reasons  which  prompt  settlers  to  occupy 
them.  Often  the  latter  are  "  homesteaders  "  who 
take  up  a  quarter-section  of  pine  land,  make  a 
pretence  of  improving  it  and,  when  after  five  years 
they  have  received  their  patent,  sell  the  timber. 
Not  rarely  these  alleged  settlers  are  really  the 
hired  "  dummies  "  of  the  lumber  companies.  Again, 
much  of  this  kind  of  land  is  sold  by  unscrupulous 
speculators,  after  the  merchantable  timber  has 
been  taken  off,  to  immigrants  from  foreign  coun- 
tries or  people  from  the  cities  who  are  without 
previous  knowledge  of  farming  and  often  buy 


192  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

without  having  ever  seen  the  land.  What  attracts 
these  people  is  the  apparently  low  price  for  which 
these  lands  can  be  had,  but  in  reality  even  one  or 
two  dollars  an  acre  is  far  too  much  to  pay  if  the 
land  is  to  be  used  for  farming.  For  a  year  or  two 
the  new  settler  gets  a  fair  crop,  because  the  humus 
accumulated  during  the  standing  of  the  forest 
nourishes  the  plants.  But  very  soon  this  is  ex- 
hausted, and  then  the  most  that  can  be  done  is  to 
raise  a  few  potatoes  and  other  sand-loving  crops  in 
the  depressions  of  the  soil,  where  the  wash  from  the 
sides  makes  the  latter  a  little  more  fertile.  Proba- 
bly by  an  elaborate  application  of  fertilizers  these 
lands  could  be  rendered  fairly  productive,  but  the 
settlers  have  neither  the  means  nor  the  skill  to  do 
this.  Most  of  them,  after  a  few  years  of  struggle, 
either  abandon  their  ill-chosen  homesteads  or  if 
they  stay  resign  themselves  to  a  hopeless  poverty. 
This  and  the  demoralization  consequent  upon  such 
conditions  make  such  people  an  exceedingly  unde- 
sirable element  in  any  community. 

The  conditions  here  described  apply  in  the  first 
place  to  the  lumber  districts  of  the  Lake  region, 
especially  to  the  States  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota.  But  with  slight  local  variations  they 
are  also  found  in  much  of  the  southern  forest  zone 
between  the  Appalachians  and  the  western  plains. 
It  is  easily  apparent  that  this  scattered  manner  of 
holding  timber-lands  makes  the  proper  policing  of 
their  holdings  by  the  owners  themselves  exceedingly 
difficult  and  costly.  Such  policing  is  necessary 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  193 

not  only  for  protection  against  fire  but  also  against 
timber  thieves. 

Timber  stealing  is  a  practice  exceedingly  com- 
mon in  all  districts  of  the  United  States  where 
lumbering  is  carried  on  on  a  large  scale.  Although 
many  of  the  States  have  statutes  making  the  cutting 
and  carrying  away  of  timber  from  other  people's 
land  larceny  instead  of  mere  trespass,  a  convic- 
tion or  even  prosecution  for  such  an  offence  is 
practically  unknown.  For  a  conviction  requires 
proof  of  malicious  intent,  and  it  is  so  easy  to  per- 
suade the  jury  that  there  was  merely  a  mistake, 
when  there  are,  in  the  primeval  wilderness,  no 
boundary  marks  except,  at  best,  the  section  lines 
blazed  by  the  government  surveyors  many  years 
ago.  Even  the  most  reputable  lumbermen  occa- 
sionally indulge  in  this  little  pastime,  taking  their 
chances  of  being  caught  at  it,  and  having  to  pay  to 
the  owners  what  the  stolen  material  is  worth.  The 
greatest  sufferers  from  these  depredations  are  the 
governments,  both  state  and  federal,  whose  lands, 
are  usually  less  well  guarded  than  private  holdings. 
Besides,  many  otherwise  fairly  honest  people  have 
no  scruple  about  robbing  or  defrauding  the  govern- 
ment. In  the  remote  and  sparsely  settled  lumber- 
ing regions  of  the  West,  the  stealing  of  government 
timber  has  at  times  reached  incredible  proportions. 
It  has  often  happened  that  a  sawmill  has  been  set 
up  in  the  midst  of  government  forests  and  operated 
without  even  an  attempt  at  concealment.  Where 
such  depredations  were  committed  by  the  inhabitants 


194  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

of  the  region,  they  might  be  to  some  extent  ex- 
cused because  these  men  were  still  imbued  with 
the  backwoodsman's  notion  of  the  early  days,  that 
public  property  is  the  property  of  nobody.  But 
no  such  extenuation  exists  for  the  great  corpora- 
tions owned  and  managed  by  wealthy  people  of 
the  East,  who  deliberately  engaged  in  this  business  ; 
although  perhaps  this  thievery  is  no  more  dis- 
honest than  other  practices  of  people  whose  only 
notion  of  commercial  honesty  is  to  keep  one's 
banker  good-natured. 

For  a  long  time  the  federal  government  made 
no  attempt  to  check  these  ravages  in  its  forests. 
The  first  step  in  the  right  direction  was  taken  under 
the  presidency  of  Mr.  Hayes,  when  Carl  Schurz, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  vigorously  prosecuted 
some  of  the  trespassers.  For  this  display  of  in- 
tegrity and  energy  he  was  bitterly  attacked  in  Con- 
gress, no  less  a  person  than  James  G.  Elaine 
leading  the  onslaught.  That  distinguished  states- 
man showed  on  this  occasion  a  narrowness  and 
shortsightedness  little  to  his  credit  by  trying  to 
ridicule  the  Secretary  as  one  unable  to  appreciate 
the  greatness  of  this  country  and  attempting  to 
apply  to  its  inexhaustible  resources  the  methods 
of  little  Prussia.  Since  that  time  the  supervision 
of  the  government  has  gradually  been  improved 
until  now  comparatively  little  trespassing  is  com- 
mitted. Those  States  also  which  are  possessed 
of  timber-lands  have  mostly  established  a  timber 
police  of  greater  or  less  efficiency  ;  but  the  agents 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  195 

intrusted  with  these  duties  are  usually  concerned 
more  about  recovering  the  value  of  timber  already 
cut  than  to  prevent  trespasses.  As  the  scattered 
system  of  ownership  practically  prevents  an  effec- 
tive fire  police  by  private  holders  of  timber-land, 
it  is  necessary  that  this  duty  be  undertaken  by 
government.  This  position  may  be  maintained  on 
two  grounds  :  that  the  owners  of  forest  property 
are  entitled  to  protection  against  a  common  danger 
from  which  they  cannot  protect  themselves  ;  and 
that  the  entire  people  are  interested  in  having  this 
kind  of  property  preserved  from  destruction.  On 
whichever  ground  you  put  it,  the  duty  of  govern- 
ment in  this  matter  is  admitted  practically  by  every- 
body. The  question  is,  how  can  this  duty  be  best 
performed  ? 

The  easiest,  but  also  the  least  effective,  way  of 
doing  so  is  the  passage  of  penal  statutes.  Proba- 
bly every  State,  as  well  as  the  United  States,  has 
had  laws  of  this  kind  for  a  long  time.  Their  pro- 
visions differ  as  to  details  in  the  various  jurisdic- 
tions, but  usually  they  threaten  with  fine  and 
imprisonment  any  person  convicted  of  setting  fire 
on  any  land  not  his  own  and  failing  to  extinguish  it 
before  leaving.  This  refers,  of  course,  to  fires 
kindled  for  purposes  in  themselves  legitimate. 
Malicious  incendiarism  is  dealt  with  in  a  more 
severe  manner.  The  difficulty  with  laws  of  this 
kind  lies  in  their  enforcement.  Fires  in  the  woods 
are  so  common  as  not  in  themselves  to  attract 
much  notice  or  apprehension.  They  may  be  left 


196  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

burning  by  campers  miles  away  from  any  human 
habitation,  and  how  can  evidence  against  the  per- 
petrators possibly  be  obtained  ?  Even  where  direct 
or  circumstantial  evidence  could  be  had,  if  the  peo- 
ple of  the  vicinity  were  willing  to  testify,  witnesses 
are  extremely  reluctant  to  go  on  the  witness  stand 
for  fear  of  incurring  the  enmity  of  their  neighbors. 
Then,  also,  who  is  there  to  begin  the  prosecution  ? 
The  state's  attorney  is  at  the  county  seat,  perhaps 
many  miles  away,  and  cannot  act  unless  a  complaint 
is  made  to  him  ;  and  who  will  go  out  of  his  way 
to  make  such  complaint,  purely  for  the  public  good 
and  with  much  inconvenience  and  possible  injury 
to  himself  ?  To  cause  people  to  make  complaints 
the  statutes  often  promise  to  the  informer  a  portion 
of  the  fine  collected  from  the  offender.  But  the 
very  fact  that  the  complaining  witness  is  pecuniarily 
interested  in  the  success  of  the  prosecution  discred- 
its him  in  the  eyes  of  court  and  jury  and  makes  a 
conviction  more  difficult.  So  it  may  be  said  that 
penal  statutes  against  negligence  in  the  handling  of 
fire  are  of  themselves  ineffectual  and  usually  mere 
dead  letters. 

A  step  forward  is  taken  where  it  is  made  the 
express  duty  of  constables  and  other  rural  officials 
to  enforce  the  fire  laws.  Although  the  compensa- 
tion of  such  officers  is  usually  derived  from  the  fees 
and  costs  collected  with  the  fine  imposed  on  offen- 
ders, yet  as  the  constable  is  merely  doing  his  offi- 
cial duty  there  is  no  such  stigma  attaching  to  his  acts 
as  keeps  private  parties  from  becoming  informers 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  197 

for  a  reward.  The  constables  are  often  fairly 
zealous  in  enforcing  the  law  against  tramps  and  non- 
residents, but  rarely  so  against  the  settlers,  who 
may  be  the  worst  offenders,  but  on  whom,  as  voters, 
the  constable  is  dependent  for  re-election.  Besides, 
the  constable  will  be  able  to  obtain  evidence  in  but 
a  very  few  cases  of  negligent  firing,  especially  as  in 
the  thinly  settled  forest  regions  his  district  often 
embraces  a  very  large  territory.  Some  States  have 
within  the  last  few  years  authorized  the  local  au- 
thorities in  their  discretion  to  prohibit  the  setting 
of  fires  for  clearing  and  other  purposes  during  the 
driest  and  most  dangerous  season  of  the  year.  If 
the  local  officials  took  care  to  avail  themselves  of 
such  authority  it  ought  to  help  materially  to  reduce 
the  number  of  destructive  fires,  but,  unfortunately, 
such  prohibitory  measures  are  rarely  adopted.  The 
local  authorities  are  often  either  too  unintelligent 
to  appreciate  their  necessity  or  afraid  of  running 
counter  to  the  wishes  of  influential  voters.  Some- 
times the  setting  of  fires  for  "  burning  brush  "  is  not 
permitted  at  all  except  with  the  license  and  under 
the  supervision  of  some  official.  This  is  an  excel- 
lent plan,  but  suffers  from  the  same  danger  of  not 
being  enforced  in  a  community  where  public  opin- 
ion is  apathetic  or  hostile  with  regard  to  such 
precautions. 

While  all  these  legal  provisions  are  good  as  far 
as  they  go,  the  only  effective  means  of  forest-fire 
police  lies  in  the  direction  of  a  system  of  specially 
appointed  fire  wardens,  subject  to  due  supervision 


198  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

by  some  central  authority.  Such  a  system  is  now 
in  fairly  successful  operation  in  the  States  of  New 
York  and  Minnesota,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in 
Wisconsin  and  a  few  other  States. 

The  principle  of  this  system  is  simply  to  have, 
throughout  the  forest  districts,  as  large  a  number 
of  persons  as  expedient  chosen  from  among  the 
residents  of  each  locality,  whose  special  duty  is  to 
see  that  the  fire  laws  are  enforced,  and  especially 
that  every  fire  burning  unguarded  in  the  woods  is 
at  once  detected  and  put  out  before  it  attains  peril- 
ous dimensions.  For  this  purpose  these  fire  war- 
dens are  empowered  to  call  upon  the  people  of  their 
districts  to  assist  in  putting  out  fires,  and  provision 
is  made  for  the  compensation  of  the  wardens  and 
their  helpers  for  work  actually  done  by  them.  The 
local  fire  wardens  ought  to  be  appointed  and  be 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  a  central  authority  at 
the  seat  of  the  state  government,  in  order  to  render 
them,  at  least  in  some  degree,  independent  of  the 
voters  in  their  own  locality.  For  efficient  service  need 
never  be  expected,  where  the  warden  is  dependent 
on  a  local  public  opinion  that  is  apt  to  consider 
his  work  as  officious  interference  and  extravagant 
burdening  of  the  taxpayers.  Being  appointed  by 
a  superior  officer  removed  from  such  influences, 
the  local  warden  will  also  be  more  amenable  to  con- 
trol and  can  be  removed  if  he  turns  out  incompetent 
or  inefficient.  The  superintendent  ought  to  be  en- 
abled to  become  personally  acquainted  with  each 
warden,  and  visit  each  from  time  to  time,  and  at 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  199 

unexpected  periods,  to  learn  the  manner  in  which 
he  performs  his  duties. 

With  a  system  of  this  kind  there  is,  of  course, 
some  expense  connected,  and  this  is  usually  urged 
as  a  principal  reason  against  its  adoption.  Penny- 
wisdom  and  pound-foolishness  is  the  rule  with  the 
"  taxpayer  "  in  this  as  in  most  other  things,  while 
nothing  is  more  popular  with  politicians  anxious  to 
capture  votes  than  to  cry  out  against  alleged  waste- 
fulness in  public  expenditure.  This  obstacle,  like 
all  others  growing  out  of  ignorance,  selfishness,  and 
laziness,  can  be  overcome  by  persistence  and  the 
logic  of  facts.  In  those  States  where  the  plan  has 
been  tried  it  has  done  incalculable  good  ;  it  must 
gradually  be  perfected  in  its  details,  and  I  doubt  not 
will,  within  a  reasonable  time,  be  introduced  in  all 
States  to  the  conditions  of  which  it  is  applicable. 
The  question  of  who  is  to  bear  the  expense  will 
probably  be  solved  by  making  both  the  localities  in 
which  the  work  is  done  and  the  State  as  a  whole 
participate  in  the  burden.  This  seems  obviously 
just,  for  the  localities  where  life  and  property  are  in 
immediate  danger  derive  the  most  benefit,  while 
the  entire  State  is  likewise  deeply  interested  in  for- 
est protection.  To  make  the  localities  bear  the 
entire  burden  would  also  be  impracticable  for  the 
further  reason  that  the  financial  capacity  of  these 
remote  and  thinly  populated  districts  is  apt  to  be 
very  small. 

It  ought  to  be  stated  here  that  in  the  Dominion 
of  Canada  a  different  system  of  fire  protection  has 


200  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

been  introduced  which  promises  to  bear  good  re- 
sults, but  which  is  made  possible  by  the  different 
policy  pursued  by  our  northern  neighbors  with 
regard  to  their  public  lands.  In  the  province  of 
Ontario,  where  the  most  valuable  forests  of  Canada 
are  found,  the  pine  lands  belonging  to  the  crown  are 
not  sold,  as  they  are  in  the  States,  but  lumbermen 
are  given  the  privilege  of  cutting  the  merchant- 
able timber  under  the  supervision  of  government 
officials.  They  are  bound  by  their  contracts,  among 
other  things,  to  employ  guards  on  the  lands  turned 
over  to  them,  and  to  take  various  other  precautions 
against  fire. 

A  provision  which  has  been  enacted  by  law  in 
some  States,  and  which  some  lumbermen  follow  vol- 
untarily, is  to  burn  up,  under  proper  precautions,  the 
debris  left  on  the  ground  after  felling.  It  is  uni- 
versally admitted  that  these  piles  of  tree  tops  and 
branches,  lying  loosely  and  quickly  drying,  are 
among  the  most  dangerous  places  in  the  woods. 
Not  a  few  destructive  fires  are  traced  to  them  annu- 
ally. It  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  expense  of 
properly  burning  these  remnants  is  so  low  that  even 
where  the  margin  of  profit  is  very  small,  a  lumber- 
man can  well  afford  to  take  this  precaution,  and  any 
failure  to  do  so  must  be  ascribed  to  wanton  disre- 
gard of  the  rights  of  others. 

The  various  laws  designed  to  lessen  the  dan- 
ger of  forest  fires,  and  which  we  have  briefly  out- 
lined above,  cannot  fail,  if  faithfully  enforced,  to 
do  considerable  good.  But  under  our  form  of 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  201 

government  there  is  no  chance  of  their  being  faith- 
fully executed  unless  public  opinion  upholds  them. 
The  whole  problem,  therefore,  resolves  itself  at  last, 
like  all  similar  problems  in  the  United  States,  into 
the  question  :  how  can  the  public  be  brought  to 
demand,  persistently  and  emphatically,  due  care  in 
the  handling  of  fire  in  the  woods  by  all  parties  con- 
cerned, and  the  punishment  of  all  persons  guilty  of 
negligence  ? 

The  enforcement  of  the  law  itself  undoubtedly 
exerts  a  very  great  educational  influence  on  the 
people.  A  single  conviction  for  negligent  handling 
of  fire,  or  even  a  prosecution  that  fails  for  insuffi- 
cient evidence,  will  make  all  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  more  careful  for  a  while  at  least. 
Not  only  will  they  be  afraid  of  punishment,  but  the 
arrest  and  trial  of  an  offender  will  forcibly  call  at- 
tention to  the  necessity  of  care  in  a  manner  which 
no  amount  of  writing  and  speaking  can  accomplish. 
Yet  writing  and  speaking  will  do  much  in  this 
direction.  The  local  and  agricultural  press,  which 
reaches  the  persons  here  concerned  far  more  often 
than  the  city  daily  or  the  literary  magazine,  has  a 
duty  here  to  which  it  pays  far  too  little  attention. 
The  rural  preachers  also  ought  to  make  this  vice 
of  negligent  fire  setting  a  frequent  topic  of  their 
sermons.  For  here  certainly  is  a  question  of 
morals,  and  a  sin  of  which  their  parishioners  in  the 
forest  districts  are  guilty  much  oftener  than  of  some 
others,  which  are  favorite  topics  of  the  ministers. 
At  the  bottom  of  the  whole  matter  is  a  lack  of  the 


202  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

sense  of  obligation  not  to  injure  others  ;  an  absence 
of  a  feeling  of  responsibility  for  one's  own  acts. 
A  man  who  allows  a  fire  kindled  on  his  own  land 
to  destroy  the  property  of  another  certainly  does 
as  great  a  wrong  to  his  neighbor  as  if  he  broke 
open  his  money-drawer  and  stole  its  contents.  Or 
again,  one  who  by  his  negligence  causes  forest  fires 
which  he  knows,  or  ought  to  know,  are  one  of  the 
gravest  sources  of  injury  to  the  nation,  is  as  little  a 
patriot  as  one  who  would  refuse  to  stand  by  his 
country's  flag  in  times  of  foreign  aggression. 

It  might  be  said  that  great  reforms  in  this  coun- 
try require  a  generation  to  become  perfectly  estab- 
lished. For  the  people  who  are  too  old  to  change 
their  intellectual  habits  must  be  replaced  by  a 
younger  element  who  from  childhood  have  been 
trained  in  the  right  direction.  This  is  true  of 
forest  fires  and  the  forest  problem  in  general,  as 
well  as  of  any  other  great  national  question.  It 
is  essential,  therefore,  that  right  moral  principles 
regarding  this  matter  and  a  correct  mental  attitude 
in  reference  to  the  forest  be  instilled  in  our  youth. 
Much  well-intentioned  nonsense  has  been  spoken 
and  written  about  the  duty  of  our  schools  in  con- 
nection with  the  forestry  problem.  Some  enthusi- 
asts have  even  advocated  that  the  children  in  the 
common  schools  be  taught  to  plant  and  care  for 
trees,  as  a  means  of  helping  to  solve  the  question. 
It  is  certainly  desirable  that  every  farmer's  boy 
should  learn  the  elements  of  arboriculture,  but  why 
should  the  lesson  be  taught  in  the  public  school, 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  203 

any  more  than  how  to  plow  or  milk  the  cows  ?  As 
for  forestry,  readers  of  this  book  I  trust  realize  by 
this  time  that  planting  shade  trees  along  roads  or 
ornamental  trees  on  lawns  is  something  entirely 
different  from  forestry.  Farmers  ought  to  learn 
how  to  treat  their  timber-lots,  better  than  they  now 
usually  do,  and  on  the  western  plains,  where  there 
are  no  natural  timber-lots,  they  should  be  encour- 
aged to  plant  them.  This  they  must  learn  as  they 
learn  other  agricultural  operations,  but  no  good 
can  come  from  talking  to  the  children  at  the  dis- 
trict school  about  such  things  instead  of  teaching 
them  the  "  three  Rs."  I  am  sure  that  every  sane 
forester  will  agree  to  this.  But  on  the  other  hand 
it  is  eminently  proper  for  rural  teachers,  in  the 
localities  where  forest  fires  are  a  constant  menace, 
to  impress  on  their  pupils  by  precept,  instruction, 
and  example  the  duty  of  being  careful  about  fire  in 
the  woods.  This  is  not  instruction  in  forestry,  but 
simply  a  part  of  that  moral  influence  a  good  teacher 
is  expected  to  exert  upon  the  children  under  his  or 
her  care.  It  is  natural  in  such  places  to  dwell  par- 
ticularly on  the  matter  of  negligence  with  fires, 
because  that  is  one  of  the  most  prevalent  vices 
there,  just  as  in  cities  a  teacher  would  naturally  lay 
most  stress  on  the  moral  offences  to  which  children 
in  such  localities  are  likely  to  be  most  given. 

Not  a  little  educational  influence  is  likewise  ex- 
erted, I  have  no  doubt,  by  the  practice  adopted 
in  many  localities  of  late  of  placing  sign-boards 
in  exposed  places  warning  people  to  be  careful. 


204  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

Anything  which  tends  to  keep  constantly  before  the 
people  of  the  forest  districts  the  necessity  of  the 
greatest  care  in  the  setting  and  guarding  of  fires  in 
the  woods  is  desirable  as  a  means  of  creating  such 
a  change  of  public  opinion  that  negligence  will 
cease  to  be  considered  as  something  venial,  but  be 
looked  upon  universally  as  what  it  really  is, — a 
heinous  crime  deserving  the  abhorrence  of  all  de- 
cent people.  As  soon  as  such  a  condition  of  public 
opinion  has  been  gained  there  will  be  no  further 
difficulty  in  enforcing  the  fire-police  laws  of  all 
kinds,  and  the  very  success  of  such  laws  will  gradu- 
ally make  them  unnecessary  and  permit  the  light- 
ening of  the  burden  which  for  a  time  must  be 
imposed  upon  the  taxpayers.  The  disappearance  of 
forest  fires  as  the  regular  and  ordinary  occurrence 
wherever  lumbering  has  been  carried  on  will  mark 
the  time  when  lumbermen  will  be  ready  to  shape 
their  business  with  a  view  to  reforesting  the  de- 
nuded tracts.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  wait  until 
fires  have  become  as  rare  as  they  are  in  Germany. 
The  lumbermen  will  be  ready  to  take  some  chances, 
but  the  probability  that  the  young  timber  will  reach 
maturity  must  at  least  be  greater  than  that  it  will 
be  killed  by  fire  before  it  becomes  merchantable. 
With  the  restocking  of  cut-over  areas  by  silvicul- 
tural  operations  will  come  a  more  conservative  man- 
ner of  lumbering  in  the  remnants  of  the  natural 
forest.  We  have  had  several  occasions  to  refer  to 
the  fact  that  lumbermen  often  cut  the  trees  long 
before  they  have  reached  the  size  when  their  taking 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  205 

would  be  most  profitable.  This  is  especially  true 
of  recent  years.  Formerly,  when  competition  was 
less  sharp  and  the  margin  of  profits  wider,  while  on 
the  other  hand  the  abundance  of  material  made  it 
possible  to  log  in  those  places  only  where  the  cost 
of  transportation  was  lowest,  it  was  common  to 
cull  only  the  largest  and  best  trees.  The  rest  were 
left  standing,  to  be  taken  twenty  or  thirty  years 
later,  when  the  quantity  of  lumber  harvested  from 
them  was,  of  course,  much  greater.  But  nowadays 
logging  has  been  carried  to  localities  that  are  com- 
paratively inaccessible,  and  in  order  to  overcome 
the  greater  cost  it  is  necessary  to  take  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  material  from  each  tract.  So 
trees  are  cut  of  all  sizes,  down  to  the  mere  pole  of 
seven  inches  in  diameter.  Moreover,  the  lumber- 
man knows  by  experience  that  if  he  lets  the  young 
tree  grow,  he  runs  the  chance  that  it  will  he  de- 
stroyed by  the  fire  long  before  he  comes  around  a 
second  time  to  cut  it.  With  the  latter  danger 
lessened,  he  will  much  oftener  prefer  to  leave  the 
sapling  till  it  has  increased  and  improved  the  char- 
acter of  its  wood.  It  is  not  rarely  proposed  to 
prohibit  by  law  the  cutting  of  pine  trees  less  than 
twelve  inches  in  diameter  or  the  sale  of  logs  of 
such  size.  A  law  of  this  kind,  even  if  it  were  con- 
stitutional and  enforceable,  would  be  unwise.  For 
as  long  as  the  young  trees  left  on  the  slashings  will 
probably  be  destroyed  by  fire,  it  is  better  to  make 
use  of  them  such  as  they  are.  In  Ontario,  where 
lumbermen  buy  the  privilege  of  logging  on  crown 


206  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

lands,  they  must  leave  the  saplings  ;  but  there  at 
least  an  effort  is  made  to  prevent  the  fires. 

Another  step  towards  conservative  lumbering, 
which  is  likely  to  be  taken  when  the  fires  diminish 
in  frequency,  is  that  of  preserving  the  young 
growth  from  injury  in  felling.  At  present  nothing 
is  further  from  the  minds  of  logging  crews.  Where 
a  tree  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  number  of  young 
ones  is  cut  a  certain  amount  of  injury  to  the  latter 
is  rarely  avoidable.  But  it  is  not  necessary,  as  is 
done  now,  to  let  the  oxen  and  horses  trample  down 
the  seedlings,  to  roll  logs  upon  them,  to  let  skids 
and  sleds  run  over  them,  and  where  a  sapling  is  an 
inch  in  the  way  to  chop  it  down.  All  this  is  the 
every-day  practice  of  American  lumber  crews  every- 
where. In  the  few  places  in  the  United  States 
where  silviculture  has  been  attempted,  as  in  Bilt- 
more  forest,  one  of  the  first  things  the  forester  has 
had  to  teach  his  men  has  been  to  take  heed  of  the 
young  trees.  But  as  soon  as  lumbermen  generally 
discover  that  the  fire  is  likely  to  keep  out  of  their 
slashings,  this  lesson  will  be  speedily  learned. 

All  this,  and  much  more  in  the  future  of  Ameri- 
can forests,  depends  upon  the  restriction  of  fires. 
We  have  seen  in  this  chapter  that  a  proper  fire 
police  cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  kept  up  by  the  own- 
ers of  timber-lands  themselves,  owing  to  the  scat- 
tered manner  in  which  their  holdings  are  ordinarily 
situated.  We  have  learned  that  government  must 
intervene  by  proper  legislation  to  protect  the  for- 
ests, just  as  governmental  agencies  protect  city 


Fighting  Fires  and  Thieves  207 

property  against  fire.  We  have  discussed  some  of 
the  means  by  which  the  various  States  have  at- 
tempted to  perform  this  duty,  and  the  manner  in 
which  such  laws  are  working ;  and  finally  we  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  after  all  the  best  hope 
for  us  lies  in  education  and  the  creating  of  a  pub- 
lic opinion  that  will  emphatically  condemn  the 
reckless  incendiary.  But  we  have  intimated  above 
that  there  is  another  factor  depending  on  legisla- 
tion which  must  be  adjusted  before  forestry  based 
on  silviculture  can  pay  in  the  United  States.  This 
matter  of  taxation  will  be  the  subject  of  the  next 
chapter. 


CHAPTER   X 

FORESTRY    AND    TAXATION 

HPHE  problem  of  raising  taxes  in  such  manner  as 
to  make  every  citizen  bear  his  just  share  of 
the  public  expense  and  at  the  same  time  be  as  little 
as  possible  a  burden  on  the  industries  of  the  peo- 
ple is  admittedly  one  of  the  most  difficult  ones 
confronting  modern  statesmanship.  It  might  be 
said  that  taxes  are  always  paid  grudgingly,  little 
credit  though  this  fact  may  reflect  upon  our  peo- 
ple. The  chronic  grumbler,  the  tax-fighter  and 
perjured  tax-dodger,  is  a  well-known  nuisance  in 
every  community,  and  usually  belongs  to  that  sec- 
tion of  the  people  arrogating  to  itself  the  name  of 
"the  better  class."  With  all  this  dissatisfaction 
created  by  tax  laws  in  every  State,  it  is  remarkable 
that  comparatively  little  study  has  been  devoted  in 
this  country  to  this  subject,  and  that  most  of  our 
taxes,  especially  those  for  local  expenditures,  are 
still  levied  by  a  system  which  is  almost  barbarous 
in  its  crudeness,  inefficiency,  and  injustice. 

As  everybody  knows,  most  of  the  taxes  raised  in 
the  United  States  for  municipal  and  local  expendi- 
ture of  all  kinds,  and  to  a  considerable  extent 
for  the  cost  of  the  state  governments,  is  laid  upon 

208 


Forestry  and  Taxation  209 

property,  real  and  personal,  at  a  more  or  less  arbi- 
trary valuation.  The  defects  of  this  system  are 
pretty  well  understood.  No  regard  is  paid  to  the 
question  whether  the  property  does  or  does  not 
produce  a  revenue,  so  as  to  often  make  it  impossi- 
ble to  hold  property  which  for  one  reason  or  the 
other  does  not  furnish  an  annual  income.  In  other 
cases,  again,  the  whole  revenue  is  eaten  up  by  the 
taxes,  making  it  as  undesirable  to  hold  such  prop- 
erty as  it  is  to  own  such  as  produces  no  income 
whatever.  The  fact  that  practically  the  greater 
portion  of  personal  property  is  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion altogether,  because  the  assessors  cannot  dis- 
cover it,  makes  the  injustice  of  the  burden  on  the 
real  property  still  more  glaring. 

No  species  of  property  is  hit  more  hardly  by  the 
crudities  of  the  tax  laws  than  timber-lands.  This 
circumstance  is  brought  about  by  a  number  of  con- 
ditions, and  it  exists  as  well  in  regard  to  lands 
stocked  with  merchantable  timber  as  to  lands  cov- 
ered with  young  growth.  The  question  of  making 
the  forest  industries  of  all  kinds  bear  their  just 
share  of  public  expenditures  is,  of  course,  intimately 
bound  up  with  the  whole  problem  of  taxation,  and 
cannot  be  fully  discussed  in  this  book.  So  much 
only  we  will  try  to  present  here  as  is  necessary  to 
show  how  a  faulty  method  of  taxation  is  one  of  the 
chief  obstacles  to  the  introduction  of  better  sys- 
tems of  forest  exploitation,  and  especially  to  the 
restocking  of  denuded  timber  areas  by  silvicultural 
treatment. 


210    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

It  must  be  clear  from  the  outset  that  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  annually  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
value  of  a  piece  of  forest  land  during  the  long 
period  when  the  young  trees  slowly  grow  towards 
maturity  must  be  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  own- 
ers. Still,  if  this  annual  payment  were  kept  within 
reasonable  limits,  it  might  be  borne.  It  would  be 
simply  one  of  the  items  of  expenditure  which  are 
required  during  this  interval,  just  like  those  for 
interest,  labor,  supervision,  and  other  things.  If 
there  is  a  fair  expectation  that  the  final  harvest 
will  net  an  amount  of  money  sufficient  to  reim- 
burse the  proprietor  for  all  these  expenses  with 
compound  interest,  the  owner  of  timber-lands  has 
no  particular  grievance.  But,  unfortunately,  the 
amount  so  payable  every  year  is  usually  far  too 
high  to  permit  a  hope  that  it  could  ever  be  made 
up  by  the  final  return,  even  if  the  danger  from  fire 
did  not  make  the  raising  of  a  new  forest  to  ma- 
turity precarious.  The  reason  why  the  annual  pay- 
ment is  so  high  must  be  sought  on  the  one  hand 
in  faulty  assessment,  on  the  other  in  extravagant 
expenditures. 

The  author  ought  to  state  in  this  place  that  in 
the  discussion  of  the  taxing  problem  he  has  in  view 
primarily  the  laws  and  practice  prevailing  in  the 
State  of  Wisconsin,  with  which  he  is  most  familiar. 
But  the  differences  existing  in  the  various  other 
States  are  small  and  do  not  radically  affect  the  un- 
derstanding of  the  question  how  taxes  affect  the 
conduct  of  forestry  in  the  United  States. 


Forestry  and  Taxation  211 

The  assessment  of  timber-lands,  like  all  other 
property,  is  usually  left  to  an  officer  or  board  selected 
from  among  the  residents  of  the  town  or  other  civil 
subdivision  in  which  the  property  is  situated.  In 
the  cities  these  officials  are  sometimes  real  experts 
in  matters  of  taxation,  but  far  oftener,  and  always 
in  the  rural  districts  where  forests  are  found,  they 
have  no  special  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  are 
guided  merely  by  such  practical  information  as  they 
possess  in  common  with  all  other  farmers  and  busi- 
ness men  of  the  neighborhood.  Like  most  of  our 
laws  and  their  execution,  assessments  are  based  on 
the  assumption  that  all  lands  are  held  by  their 
owners  either  as  city  lots  or  as  farms,  present  or 
prospective.  When  the  assessor  finds  a  tract  of 
land  stocked  with  growing  timber,  he  proceeds  to 
assess  its  value  as  he  would  that  of  a  piece  of  farm 
land.  He  ascertains  the  price  at  which  a  piece  of 
similar  land  would  likely  be  bought  by  an  intend- 
ing agricultural  settler.  Let  us  say  that  the  usual 
price  paid  in  the  neighborhood  for  an  acre  of  wild 
land  fitted  for  agriculture  is  five  dollars ;  probably 
the  assessor,  intending  to  be  fair,  and  recognizing 
that  the  land  in  question  is  inferior  in  soil  and  re- 
mote as  to  location,  reduces  the  price  to  three  dol- 
lars. The  assessment  is  usually  made  at  about 
two  thirds  of  the  real  value,  so  that  the  tract  goes 
down  in  the  assessment  roll  at  two  dollars.  Let  us 
say  that  the  tax  levied,  for  all  purposes,  amounts 
to  five  per  cent,  of  the  assessed  valuation.  This 
may  seem  exorbitant,  but  is  rather  low  as  levies  are 


212  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

made  in  the  forest  counties  of  Wisconsin.  It  is 
evident  that,  in  a  case  like  this,  the  taxes  would  in 
thirty  years  equal  the  value  of  the  property,  not 
counting  the  interest.  This  is  assuming  that  the 
assessment  is  a  fair  one  according  to  the  standard 
employed.  But  it  rarely  is  ;  and  there  is  another 
feature  of  the  problem. 

Timber-lands  are  usually  owned  by  non-residents, 
often  by  corporations,  the  stockholders  of  which 
are  non-residents.  This  means  that  their  owners 
have  no  direct  influence  on  the  election  of  assessors, 
and  cannot  defend  themselves  against  over-valua- 
tion by  defeating  the  re-election  of  an  unjust  offi- 
cer. On  the  other  hand  the  residents  are  directly 
benefited  by  unjust  treatment  of  the  non-residents, 
and  therefore  not  likely  to  be  particularly  put  out 
by  such  injustice.  The  result  of  this  is  naturally 
that  timber-lands  are  often  over-assessed,  even  ac- 
cording to  the  standard  used  for  agricultural  lands, 
which  is  of  itself  unfair.  If  such  over-assessment 
is  glaringly  conspicuous,  the  courts  will,  of  course, 
afford  relief.  But  where  it  is  moderate,  though  in 
the  aggregate  it  may  amount  to  a  great  sum,  the 
victims  would  rather  pay  than  go  to  the  expense 
and  annoyance  of  litigation.  All  this  is  assuming 
that  the  assessor  is  honest.  But,  unfortunately, 
that  assumption  does  not  always  hold  true.  Not 
rarely  the  assessor  simply  blackmails  the  timber 
owner  by  threatening  to  put  an  outrageous  valua- 
tion on  his  land,  in  the  hope  of  being  bought  off. 
Too  often  that  hope  is  realized,  although  the  owner 


Forestry  and  Taxation  213 

must  know  that  if  he  pays  once  he  will  surely  be 
fleeced  again  the  next  year.  The  result  of  all  these 
abuses  is  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  forest 
lands  all  over  the  country  are  abandoned  by  their 
owners  after  the  merchantable  timber  has  been  re- 
moved. The  taxes  are  no  longer  paid ;  at  the  tax 
sales  no  bidders  are  found,  and  after  due  time  the 
title  vests  in  the  county  or  State,  according  to  the 
statutes  in  force  in  the  different  jurisdictions. 
These  abandoned  woodlands  might  form  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  fine  system  of  state  forests,  if  the  govern- 
ments were  ready  to  undertake  their  care.  In  fact, 
a  few  States  are  beginning  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunity.  But  at  the  same  time,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  whole  procedure  is  nothing  but 
confiscation  under  the  guise  of  taxation.  In  most 
cases  the  counties  or  other  governmental  agencies 
which  obtain  the  tax  titles  are  anxious  to  sell  the 
lands  again,  and  now  it  becomes  apparent  how 
utterly  unjust  the  assessment  was,  for  lands  that 
were  taxed  on  the  basis  of  one  or  two  dollars  as- 
sessed valuation  an  acre  are  often  sold  to  specula- 
tors at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve  dollars  a  "  forty." 

This  may  be  a  convenient  place  to  indicate  roughly 
how  the  value  of  woodlands  is  computed  in  Europe, 
although  it  must  be  understood  that  this  method  is 
not  applicable  to  our  country  under  present  condi- 
tions, and  is  not  suggested  as  a  substitute  for  pre- 
vailing standards  of  assessment.  In  this  country 
a  person  buying  timber-lands  considers  the  value 
of  the  merchantable  timber  only.  The  young 


214  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

trees,  seedlings  and  saplings,  are  disregarded  alto- 
gether. It  stands  to  reason,  however,  that  if  a  for- 
est ripe  for  the  axe  has  a  certain  value,  a  forest 
that  will  become  merchantable  thirty  or  fifty  years 
from  now  must  have  a  value  likewise.  It  can  be 
found  by  taking  the  value  the  forest  will  have  at 
maturity  and  deduct  therefrom  what  it  will  cost  in 
interest  and  running  expenses  to  bring  it  to  that 
stage.  In  the  technical  language  of  foresters,  the 
amount  so  computed  is  called  by  the  rather  cumber- 
some term  "  expectation  value."  To  make  this  cal- 
culation it  is  necessary,  of  course,  to  have  the  means 
of  telling  how  much  lumber  the  forest  will  yield  at 
maturity.  This  the  European  forester  can  approxi- 
mately ascertain  by  means  of  those  yield  tables 
mentioned  in  a  former  chapter.  But  the  American 
timber  buyer  has  no  means  of  computing  the  amount 
of  timber  his  young  forest  will  yield  many  years 
hence,  because  yield  tables  have  never  been  con- 
structed nor  the  observations  made  on  which  they 
could  be  based.  Moreover,  the  ever-present  factor 
of  fire  renders  a  computation  of  expectation  values 
impossible  with  us.  In  Europe  the  possibility  that 
young  timber  will  be  destroyed  before  it  becomes 
merchantable  is  so  small  that  it  may  be  disregarded. 
In  the  United  States  more  or  less  injury  from  fire 
is  almost  certain,  and  the  probability  of  total  de- 
struction, with  coniferous  forests  at  least,  is  greater 
than  that  it  will  escape. 

If  cut-over   timber-lands  are  to  be  assessed  for 
taxes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  do  no  injustice  to  the 


Forestry  and  Taxation  215 

owner,  the  assessment  must  be  based,  not  upon  what 
a  man  would  be  willing  to  pay  who  wanted  the  land 
for  agriculture,  but  on  what  timber  producers  would 
pay  for  it.  That  this  is  not  possible  under  present 
conditions  is  plain.  The  only  fair  thing  to  do, 
then,  would  be  to  assess  such  lands  at  what  the 
counties  will  get  when  they  sell  their  tax  titles, — 
in  other  words,  a  few  cents  an  acre.  This,  however, 
the  local  assessors  refuse  to  do,  and  the  confiscation 
goes  merrily  on. 

So  far  we  have  spoken  of  the  cases  where  lands 
from  which  the  merchantable  timber  has  been  taken 
are  assessed  and  taxed  at  an  exorbitant  rate.  But 
timber  owners  fare  not  a  whit  better  when  they  are 
taxed  on  land  stocked  with  uncut  merchantable 
timber.  It  is  remarkable  how  much  sound,  mer- 
chantable pine  or  other  timber  the  assessor  is  able 
to  find  on  a  given  tract  of  land.  It  must  be  said, 
however,  that  it  is  equally  wonderful  how  little  of 
it  can  be  found  by  the  estimator  who  looks  at  it  in 
the  employ  of  a  prospective  purchaser.  The  fact 
is  that  all  information  obtainable  as  to  the  amount 
of  merchantable  timber  now  growing  on  the  forest 
lands  of  the  country  is  utterly  unreliable.  The  es- 
timates are  based  on  guess-work  at  best,  and  the 
guesses  are  affected  by  the  purposes  for  which  they 
are  made.  It  is  probable  that  the  information 
really  in  the  possession  of  the  great  lumbering  con- 
cerns and  their  woodsmen  is  much  more  accurate 
than  the  statements  that  are  made  by  them  to 
strangers,  including  takers  of  the  census  and  other 


216  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

official  inquirers.  There  are  numerous  reasons 
why  it  is  not  for  the  interest  of  owners  to  let  others 
know  too  definitely  the  quantity  of  timber  growing 
on  their  land.  The  fear  of  the  tax  collector  is  but 
one  of  these  reasons;  that  of  the  business  com- 
petitor is  equally  strong.  The  upshot  of  it  all  is, 
that  woodsmen  of  equal  skill  and  experience,  and 
equal  degrees  of  acquaintance  with  the  particular 
locality,  will  differ  widely  in  their  estimates  of  the 
available  timber  resources.  Even  aside  from  in- 
tentional or  unintentional  bias,  the  methods  of 
making  estimates  of  standing  timber  are  so  crude 
and  rough  that  nothing  but  a  faint  approximation 
of  the  real  facts  is  ever  obtained  by  them.  Un- 
doubtedly these  results  are  sufficiently  accurate  for 
the  business  of  lumbering  as  now  conducted.  But 
when  lumbering  shall  be  based  in  this  country  on  a 
system  of  silviculture,  the  present  methods  of  meas- 
uring and  valuing  wood  crops  will  have  to  be  re- 
placed by  others  that  give  more  accurate  data. 

The  art  of  measuring  wood  crops,  either  felled 
or  standing,  has  been  highly  developed  in  Europe. 
Foresters  of  a  mathematical  turn  of  mind  have 
delighted  in  inventing  various  methods  of  men- 
suration, and  reduced  even  the  simplest  things  to 
mathematical  formulas  which  make  the  handbooks 
of  this  art  exceedingly  hard  reading  to  those  not 
fond  of  dealing  with  equations.  Various  imple- 
ments have  been  devised  to  assist  in  obtaining  the 
data  required  for  computation.  The  aim  with 
Europeans  invariably  is  to  discover  the  volume  of 


Forestry  and  Taxation  2 1 7 

wood  contained  in  a  forest  as  expressed  in  cubic 
metres.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  in  itself 
brings  about  much  greater  accuracy  than  our  sys- 
tem of  expressing  quantity  in  feet  board  measure, 
although  it  is  not  so  convenient  for  the  lumber- 
man, because  he  must  first  make  another  calcula- 
tion before  he  can  tell  how  many  boards  he  ought 
to  saw  out  of  a  given  amount  of  logs.  With  the 
development  of  American  silvicultural  forestry, 
methods  of  mensuration  adapted  to  American  con- 
ditions and  approaching  those  of  Europe  in  accu- 
racy will  undoubtedly  be  invented.  In  fact,  a  very 
simple  and  convenient  one  has  already  been  sug- 
gested in  a  recent  bulletin  of  the  United  States 
Forestry  Division.  When  such  methods  shall  be 
in  universal  use,  even  the  rural  assessor  will  prob- 
ably be  prevailed  upon  to  apply  them.  But  one 
may  hope  that  by  that  time  a  different  way  may 
have  been  found  to  let  the  forest  and  lumber  inter- 
ests bear  their  fair  portion  of  the  public  burden. 

We  have  stated  that  the  owners  of  timber-lands 
are  affected  unjustly  not  only  by  the  assessment 
of  taxes,  but  also  by  the  expenditure  of  the  pro- 
ceeds. The  way  in  which  lavish  expenditure  is 
more  burdensome  to  them  than  to  other  taxpayers 
is  the  following.  In  the  districts  where  the  forests 
are  situated,  it  very  often  happens  that  but  a  small 
proportion  of  the  taxes  levied  is  paid  by  residents. 
The  timber-lands  from  which  the  greater  portion 
of  taxes  is  derived  belong  mostly  to  the  non- 
resident lumbermen.  The  latter  therefore  have 


218  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

no  voice  either  in  the  levy  of  the  tax  or  the  manner 
of  its  expenditure.  The  report  of  the  Wisconsin 
tax  commissioners  for  1898  shows,  among  other 
things,  that  in  the  town  of  Georgetown,  Price 
County,  during  the  preceding  ten  years  the  resi- 
dents paid  but  4.8  per  cent,  of  the  taxes  levied.  In 
many  other  towns  a  similar  proportion  prevailed. 
This  in  itself  would  be  an  almost  irresistible  temp- 
tation to  extravagant  expenditure  on  the  part  of 
the  local  authorities.  It  should  be  observed  that 
in  Wisconsin  the  township  system  prevails,  and  the 
town  and  school-district  taxes  are  levied  by  the 
voters  in  town  meeting  assembled.  But  this  is  not 
the  worst  of  the  predicament  in  which  the  land- 
owners find  themselves.  Not  only  do  they  pay 
the  taxes  which  others  impose,  but  practically  not 
a  penny  of  the  large  sums  they  pay  into  the  public 
treasury  is  expended  for  their  benefit,  except  per- 
haps so  much  of  it  as  goes  towards  the  support  of 
the  courts.  The  heaviest  expenses  in  all  these 
newly  settled  districts  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
establishing  of  schools,  on  the  other,  the  building 
of  roads  and  bridges.  For  the  former  the  lumber- 
men obviously  have  no  use,  and  the  latter  they 
do  not  get,  for  all  improvements  are  made  where 
the  settlers  live,  and  for  their  benefit,  but  not  in 
the  remote  parts  where  the  timber-lands  lie.  Of 
late  the  State  of  Wisconsin  has  made  a  beginning 
towards  establishing  a  forest-fire  police,  but  the 
expense  which  may  be  incurred  for  this  purpose  in 
every  township  of  thirty-six  sections  is  limited  by 


Forestry  and  Taxation  219 

law  to  one  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  most  towns  pay  far  less  than  that,  or  noth- 
ing at  all,  towards  this  end.  If  it  is  true,  as  is 
often  stated,  that  taxes  are  paid  in  return  for  the 
protection  received  from  the  government,  then 
timber-lands  ought  not  to  be  taxed  at  all,  for  they 
receive  very  little  protection  indeed  against  their 
deadly  enemies,  the  fire  and  the  man  who  sets  it. 
That  taxation  in  these  new  districts  must  be  high 
is  unavoidable,  for  all  the  public  improvements 
which  older  regions  need  merely  keep  in  repair 
must  here  be  created  out  of  nothing.  But  in 
justice  the  benefits  ought  to  be  extended  to  all 
property  which  shares  in  the  burden.  Much  of 
the  expense  incurred  is  also  due  to  mere  want  of 
business  skill,  looseness  of  methods,  and  sometimes 
to  corruption.  Money  so  squandered  of  course 
goes  into  the  pockets  of  the  residents,  as  officials 
and  contractors,  while  most  of  it  comes  out  of  the 
treasury  of  the  non-resident  lumbermen,  who  on 
their  part  spend  thousands  of  dollars  in  wages  and 
for  supplies  to  the  very  people  who  so  unfairly 
bleed  them. 

The  excessive  burden  of  taxes  resting  upon  the 
woodlands,  both  stocked  and  denuded,  cannot  fail 
to  be  a  very  serious  hindrance  to  successful  silvi- 
cultural  forestry  in  all  those  States  where  methods 
similar  to  that  described  above  prevail.  But  unfor- 
tunately the  problem  how  those  methods  of  taxation 
can  be  improved  is  very  difficult  of  solution.  A 
radical  relief  can  be  obtained  by  the  forest  interests 


220  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

only  in  common  with  all  other  business  interests  of 
the  country  through  the  total  abolition  of  the  inad- 
equate and  unfair  tax  on  property  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  more  equitable  scheme.  But  a  number  of 
plans  have  been  proposed  to  remedy  the  evil  where 
timber-lands  are  particularly  the  sufferers. 

It  is  often  suggested  that  owners  of  growing  for- 
ests should  be  exempted  from  taxes  thereon  until 
the  time  of  the  final  harvest.  Usually  the  proposi- 
tion includes  the  payment,  at  the  time  of  the  har- 
vest, of  a  sum  equal  to  what  would  ordinarily  be 
paid  in  annual  instalments.  In  this  form  I  cannot 
see  that  the  relief  to  the  owner  would  be  very  great. 
He  would  be  excused  from  paying  anything  if  the 
crop  should  be  destroyed  before  maturity.  But 
aside  from  that,  none  of  the  difficulties  would  be 
removed.  The  unfair  assessment  and  excessive 
expenditures  would  still  continue,  and  the  large  sum 
to  be  paid  at  the  harvest  would  probably  doom  the 
enterprise  to  financial  failure.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  local  authorities  would  be  seriously  handicapped 
from  the  large  annual  deficiency  in  their  receipts— 
a  difficulty  which  could  hardly  be  made  good  by  the 
recovery  df  a  very  great  lump  sum  in  the  distant 
future. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  is  a  law  under  which  own- 
ers of  not  to  exceed  fifty  acres,  stocked  with  at  least 
fifty  trees  of  eight  inches  in  diameter  or  over  to  the 
acre,  may  obtain  a  rebate  of  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
tax  annually  imposed  on  such  land.  This  law  is 
clearly  not  designed  to  apply  to  forests  managed 


Forestry  and  Taxation  221 

for  lumber,  but  rather  to  timber-lots  and  parks  where 
the  trees  are  preserved  as  a  protection  to  the  climate 
and  physiographic  conditions.  In  fact,  the  preamble 
to  the  law  intimates  such  an  intention.  It  does  not 
help  us,  therefore,  to  solve  the  difficulties  we  are 
discussing  in  regard  to  forestry  as  a  business. 

Sometimes  it  is  proposed  that  persons  planting 
and  maintaining  trees  on  their  lands  shall  be  exempt 
from  taxes  on  them.  This  is,  like  the  Pennsylvania 
plan,  applicable  rather  to  cases  where  forests  should 
be  preserved  for  reasons  other  than  lumber  produc- 
tion. It  is  particularly  useful  on  the  treeless  plains, 
where  farmers  ought  to  be  encouraged  to  plant 
timber  belts.  In  effect  it  is  a  bounty  on  tree  plant- 
ing and  suffers  from  many  of  the  faults  of  the 
bounty  system.  It  is  difficult  to  prevent  people 
from  making  a  mere  pretence  of  maintaining  a 
growing  forest,  when  in  reality  they  are  but  trying 
to  escape  taxation  on  their  pasture  lands.  The 
United  States  for  a  number  of  years  offered  a  quar- 
ter section  of  land  in  the  treeless  section  to  any  one 
who  would  undertake  to  plant  a  certain  number  of 
acres  with  trees  and  care  for  them  ;  but  the  frauds 
growing  out  of  this  "  tree-claim  "  law  were  so  glar- 
ing, and  the  results  in  the  way  of  establishing  forests 
on  the  western  plains  were  so  small,  that  the  law 
was  repealed.  There  is  danger  that  laws  exempting 
tree  plantations  from  taxes  may  have  similar  bad 
results.  A  total  exemption  of  forest  lands  used  for 
lumber  production  would,  of  course,  be  a  radical 
cure  of  all  evils  growing  out  of  taxation,  and  it  is 


222  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

sometimes  proposed  on  the  plea  that  public  welfare 
demands  such  favors  to  the  lumber  interests.  But 
the  plea  is  not  well  founded.  If  silvicultural  for- 
estry cannot  be  made  to  pay  without  a  bounty, 
whether  in  the  shape  of  exemption  from  taxes  or 
cash  payments,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  it  could 
be  made  permanently  profitable  with  such  an  arti- 
ficial stimulus.  In  the  meantime,  the  exemption 
would  be  invidious  and  subject  to  constant  attacks. 
Forest  owners  would  have  to  be  "  in  politics"  all 
the  time,  to  protect  their  interests,  and  would  soon 
rival  the  railways  as  intentional  or  unintentional 
promoters  of  corruption.  No  true  friend  of  im- 
proved forestry  ought  to  advocate  such  dangerous 
measures  as  this. 

To  the  author  it  would  seem  as  if  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  taxing  forests  and  lumber  interests 
would  lie  in  the  direction  of  taxing  them  on  their 
gross  income  instead  of  their  property,  in  analogy  to 
the  manner  in  which  transportation  companies  are 
taxed.  Nearly  all  concerns  which  carry  on  lumber- 
ing and  other  forms  of  forest  exploitation  on  a  large 
scale  in  the  United  States  are  now  legally  organ- 
ized as  corporations.  Very  much  of  the  timber- 
lands  of  the  country  is  owned  by  these  same  com- 
panies or  by  others  organized  for  the  purpose.  If 
these  corporations  were  relieved  from  property 
taxes  and  instead  contributed  a  percentage  of  their 
gross  receipts  to  the  public  expenses,  it  would  be 
comparatively  easy  to  adjust  the  amount  payable 
with  justice  to  all  parties  concerned.  On  the  other 


Forestry  and  Taxation  223 

hand,  the  difficulties  arising  out  of  the  assessment 
of  lands  by  the  local  authorities  would  disappear. 
It  is  true  that  not  all  timber-lands  held  for  lumber- 
ing on  a  large  scale  are  owned  by  corporations. 
But  if  individual  holders  wish  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  benefits  of  the  law,  they  may  easily  organize 
corporations  to  take  the  title,  while  they  retain  a 
controlling  interest  in  the  stock.  To  make  the  law 
directly  applicable  to  individuals  would  probably  be 
impracticable,  for  the  reason  that  individuals  would 
ordinarily  have  other  sources  of  income,  and  it  might 
be  impossible  to  separate  the  income  arising  out  of 
their  lumber  interests  from  other  revenues. 

A  system  such  as  this  would,  in  the  author's 
opinion,  solve  the  taxation  question  in  a  manner 
satisfactory  to  everybody.  Until  it  has  been  intro- 
duced only  palliatives  are  available,  which  must  look 
principally  in  the  direction  of  a  fairer  method  of 
assessing  woodlands,  especially  those  from  which 
the  merchantable  timber  has  been  removed.  These 
means  lie  partly  with  the  courts.  After  a  somewhat 
careful  study  of  the  authorities  the  author  has  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  will  be  held,  if  the  matter 
is  brought  before  a  court  in  proper  shape,  that  an 
assessment  of  such  lands  based  upon  what  agricul- 
tural lands  will  sell  for,  is  of  itself  unfair  and  will  be 
reduced.  The  legal  reasons  for  this  conclusion  can- 
not, of  course,  be  set  forth  in  a  volume  like  this. 
There  is  another  feature  of  the  taxation  of  forest 
products  which,  on  account  of  the  frequency  with 
which  it  is  discussed,  deserves  notice.  That  is  the 


224  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

question  of  import  duties  upon  lumber.  Nothing 
is  heard  more  frequently  than  the  contention  that 
lumber  ought  to  be  admitted  free,  in  order  that  the 
forests  of  the  country  might  be  protected  from 
destruction  by  the  lumbermen.  With  the  general 
question  of  the  wisdom  of  protective  duties  we 
have  nothing  to  do  in  this  book.  But  every 
forester  will  protest  against  the  means  of  "  pro- 
tecting "  the  forests  by  destroying  the  lumber 
industry.  That  free  admission  of  lumber  would 
work  a  total  or  practical  destruction  of  the  lumber 
business  is  evidently  assumed  by  those  urging 
this  argument,  for  otherwise  the  expected  pres- 
ervation of  the  forests  could  not  result.  We  may 
therefore  accept  their  conclusion  that  free  trade  in 
lumber  would  keep  the  axe  away  from  the  remain- 
ing merchantable  timber.  It  must  be  plain  to  atten- 
tive readers  that  people  who  prefer  this  argument 
have  not  grasped  the  very  first  principle  of  forestry, 
which  is  the  utilization  of  the  forests  while  preserv- 
ing their  existence.  Not  to  destroy  the  lumber  in- 
dustry, but  to  insure  its  continuation  during  the 
whole  future  life  of  the  nation  is  the  aim  of  forestry 
reform.  To  let  forests  lie  idle,  a  useless  wilderness, 
would  not  even  preserve  them,  for  fire,  windfall, 
insects,  and  fungi  would  gradually  destroy  them. 
The  conditions  under  which  the  primeval  forests 
were  created,  flourished,  and  preserved  themselves 
have  gone  forever.  The  forests  of  the  future,  if 
they  are  to  exist  at  all,  in  the  midst  of  dense 
population  and  a  civilization  in  a  great  measure 


Forestry  and  Taxation  225 

depending  on  their  products,  must  be  skilfully  and 
lovingly  cared  for  by  man.  In  return  they  will  supply 
him  with  what  he  needs  of  their  stock,  and  they  will 
protect  his  hillsides  and  watercourses,  and  beckon 
him  to  their  shades  for  rest  and  recreation  more 
beneficently  than  ever  the  primeval  wilderness  did. 
It  may  or  may  not  be  true  that  sound  policy  de- 
mands free  trade  in  lumber.  But  that  is  a  question 
to  be  answered  on  general  grounds  of  national 
economy.  As  a  means  of  preserving  the  forests  it 
must  be  repudiated  by  the  advocates  of  forestry 
reform. 

The  forest  and  lumber  interests  must  not  and  do 
not  demand  to  be  exempt  from  their  due  share  in 
carrying  the  burden  of  taxation  necessary  to  support 
our  government,  national,  state,  or  local.  What 
they  do  demand  and  are  entitled  to  is  such  an  ad- 
justment of  the  manner  and  amount  of  taxation 
that  on  the  one  hand  these  forms  of  industry  are 
made  to  pay  no  greater  proportion  of  the  taxes  than 
other  interests,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  tax  regu- 
lations do  not  make  a  rational  conduct  of  the  for- 
estry business  impossible.  It  is  for  the  interest  of 
the  whole  nation  that  this  question  be  settled  right. 
If  the  people  only  understood  how  seriously  their 
interests  are  injured  by  the  faulty  manner  of  forest 
taxation,  they  would  be  far  more  clamorous  than 
the  lumbermen  themselves  to  have  these  abuses 
rectified.  For  the  lumbermen  have  paid  their  ex- 
orbitant taxes  in  the  past  and  have  made  money, 
even  built  up  great  fortunes ;  and  they  do  so  now, 


226    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

and  may  continue  to  do  so  until  all  the  original 
stock  of  timber  is  exhausted.  But  they  are  doing 
this  at  the  expense  of  the  nation.  While  on  the 
one  hand  the  people  fail  to  protect  them  against 
fire,  on  the  other  hand  they  extort  excessive  taxes. 
Thereby  they  make  it  impossible  for  lumbermen  to 
cut  their  timber  conservatively,  with  due  attention 
to  reforestation,  and  to  carry  on  proper  silviculture. 
The  people  alone  are  the  losers. 

On  the  treatment  of  the  questions  of  fire  and 
taxes  depends  the  future  of  American  forest  in- 
dustries. Their  solution  can  be  reached  by  nothing 
but  legislation  ;  legislation  depends  upon  the  will  of 
the  people  in  a  commonwealth  where  all  political 
action  is  ultimately  decided  by  public  opinion.  In 
other  countries,  the  judgment  of  a  few  enlight- 
ened men  may  sometimes  introduce  wise  reforms, 
even  against  the  will  of  those  who  are  to  reap  the 
ultimate  benefit.  But  this  incidental  advantage  of 
monarchy  and  aristocracy  we  gave  up  when  we 
chose  the  greater  benefits  of  a  democratic  form  of 
national  life.  Having  made  the  many  their  own 
masters,  we  must  persuade  them  to  do  what  will  be 
for  their  own  good,  and  point  out  to  them  the  way 
they  cannot  find  by  themselves.  This  necessity  of 
teaching  not  a  few,  but  the  many,  makes  reforms 
in  our  governmental  affairs  plants  of  slow  growth, 
and  the  time  which  is  spent  in  agitation  and  instruc- 
tion is  usually  much  longer  with  us  than  with  other 
nations.  The  forestry  problem  is  but  just  emerging 
from  this  preliminary  stage.  While  it  is  not  the 


Forestry  and  Taxation  227 

purpose  of  this  book  to  furnish  a  history  of  the 
movement  for  forestry  reform  in  this  country,  our 
survey  of  the  subject  would  be  incomplete  if  we 
did  not  devote  a  chapter  to  the  various  phases 
through  which  the  movement  has  passed.  At  the 
same  time  we  ought  to  consider  some  of  the  work 
which  is  done  by  various  governmental  and  educa- 
tional institutions,  and  the  matter  of  agitation  and 
instruction.  Finally  we  must  show  how  within  quite 
recent  years  the  movement  has  begun  to  have  some 
results,  both  in  legislation  and  actual  silviculture. 


CHAPTER  XI 

REFORM    IN    FORESTRY    METHODS 

IT  would  be  impossible  to  fix  the  year  when  the 
agitation  for  better  methods  of  treating  forest 
resources  in  the  United  States  began.  In  the  writ- 
ings of  scientific  men,  as  well  as  of  travellers  and 
lovers  of  scenery  and  outdoor  life,  of  more  than  fifty 
years  ago,  one  occasionally  finds  expressions  of  re- 
gret that  our  forests  are  being  wasted.  Gradually 
the  number  of  such  expressions  increases.  Writers 
begin  to  call  attention  to  the  evil  effects  deforesta- 
tion must  exercise  on  climate,  waterflow,  and  fer- 
tility of  soil.  But  for  a  very  long  time  no  practical 
remedies  are  suggested,  nor  is  the  question  ap- 
proached in  a  systematic  and  business-like  manner. 
It  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  history  of  American 
forestry  that  the  impetus  towards  reform  began 
with  botanists  and  other  scientific  men  on  the  one 
hand,  horticulturists  and  landscape  gardeners  on 
the  other.  It  was  far  different  in  Europe,  and 
especially  Germany,  when  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  need  of  a  more  rational 
treatment  of  forests  first  attracted  wide-spread 
attention.  There  it  was  from  an  economic  and 
financial  standpoint  that  the  question  was  first 

228 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         229 

approached.  Many  of  the  rulers  of  the  multitude  of 
small  communities  into  which  Germany  was  divided, 
and  who  treated  their  dominions  very  much  as  a 
man  would  his  private  estates,  had  rather  expensive 
tastes,  and  found  that  they  must  either  retrench  or 
increase  their  revenues.  When  the  ability  of  their 
subjects  to  pay  taxes  was  exhausted,  they  turned  to 
the  large  forests,  which  most  of  them  possessed,  in 
order  to  replenish  their  coffers,  and  their  advisers 
usually  had  sense  enough  to  see  that  one  could 
increase  the  productivity  of  the  forests  without 
destroying  them.  When  fifty  years  later  most  of 
these  princelings  were  mediatized,  the  larger  por- 
tion of  their  forests  became  the  property  of  the 
greater  states  of  which  their  territories  were  made 
parts,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  magnificent 
system  of  state  forests  Germany  enjoys  to-day. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  abler  statesmen  of  the 
eighteenth  century  saw  that  there  was  danger  of 
the  supply  of  lumber  and  fire-wood, — which  latter 
was  then  of  much  more  importance  than  now, — fall- 
ing behind  the  demand  and  prices  rising  excessively. 
So  they  thought  of  ways  to  increase  the  productiv- 
ity of  forests  and  prevent  their  destruction.  Thus 
both  the  greed  of  the  bad  rulers  and  the  foresight 
of  good  ones  caused  the  adoption  of  rational 
forestry  methods. 

The  fact  that  in  the  United  States  the  first  im- 
pulse towards  forestry  reform  has  not  come  from 
the  owners  and  exploiters,  nor  from  economists  or 
statesmen,  but  from  people  who  had  a  scientific  or 


230  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

generally  patriotic  interest  in  the  subject,  has  given 
the  movement  a  very  peculiar  course.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  circumstance  was  a  fortunate  one,  for  it 
enlisted  in  favor  of  reform  a  body  of  men,  of  highly 
trained  intelligence,  who  had  no  personal  and  pecu- 
niary interests  at  stake  and  therefore  could  not  fall 
under  the  suspicion  of  having  private  ends  to  serve 
whenever  they  urged  upon  the  public  the  adoption 
of  any  particular  policy.  But  there  were  serious 
drawbacks  to  this  advantage.  The  public,  who 
heard  the  subject  discussed  principally  by  botanists 
and  writers  on  allied  subjects,  soon  conceived  the 
notion  that  forestry  is  primarily  a  question  concern- 
ing scientists  only,  and  not  of  general  importance. 
This  notion  is  not  yet  eradicated  from  the  popular 
mind,  any  more  than  its  sister  error,  that  forestry  is 
identical  with  tree  planting,  and  that  its  practice  is 
therefore  promoted  by  getting  people  interested  in 
setting  out  shade  trees  along  roadsides  or  in  the 
school  grounds.  Yet  the  botanists  and  horticul- 
turists at  least  knew  what  they  were  about,  so  far  as 
they  went.  True,  they  neglected  almost  entirely 
the  business  side  of  the  problem,  and  devoted  them- 
selves exclusively  to  the  question  of  preserving 
forests  on  account  of  the  climatic  and  physiograph- 
ical  dangers  accompanying  their  removal.  But 
within  this  limited  field  they  were  serious  and  intel- 
ligent, and  great  praise  is  due  to  their  efforts  irt 
promoting  a  more  general  understanding  of  these 
matters.  Unfortunately,  the  same  cannot  be  said 
of  the  horde  of  purveyors  of  light  literature  who 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         231 

soon  took  up  forestry  as  the  latest  fad.  These 
people  had  no  knowledge  of  their  subject  except 
what  they  might  chance  to  remember  from  a  super- 
ficial perusal  of  the  writings  of  the  botanists.  But 
they  presumed  to  speak  in  the  name  of  forestry, 
and  filled  the  newspapers  and  magazines  with  their 
productions,  while  a  host  of  well-meaning  preachers 
and  popular  lecturers  seconded  their  efforts  from 
the  platform,  with  equal  zeal  and  equal  lack  of  in- 
formation. The  changes  were  rung  ad  naiiseam 
on  the  fearful  effects  of  forest  destruction  in  the 
Mediterranean  countries,  while  the  lumberman  was 
painted  in  the  blackest  colors  as  one  who  seeks  a 
fiendish  pleasure  in  destroying  the  primeval  woods. 
The  necessary  consequence  of  this  flood  of  misin- 
formation was  soon  apparent.  Forestry  soon  came 
to  be  looked  upon  as  a  fantastical  idea  of  enthusi- 
asts, a  pretty  subject  to  write  verses  about,  a  thing 
that  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  practical,  every-day 
affairs  of  life.  Lumbermen  and  woodland  owners, 
the  very  people  who  should  have  felt  the  greatest 
interest  in  the  movement,  because  their  pockets 
were  most  directly  concerned,  held  aloof  from  it,  and 
were  kept  from  active  opposition  only  by  the  con- 
tempt they  felt  for  the  whole  agitation.  This  un- 
fortunate result  works  its  mischief  to  the  present 
day,  for  even  now  there  are  large  numbers  of  intel- 
ligent people  who  fail  to  understand  the  nature  of 
forestry,  even  in  the  limited  sense  of  the  botanists, 
and  certainly  so  in  the  true  and  comprehensive 
sense  which  for  years  a  few  energetic  workers  in 


232  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

various  parts  of  the  country  have  tried  to  impress 
upon  them. 

When  the  work  of  the  scientific  men  first  began 
to  bear  fruit,  it  took  the  direction  of  simply  setting 
aside  tracts  of  forest  land  as  reserves,  with  the  idea 
of  keeping  them  forever  in  a  state  of  nature.  The 
tracts  selected  for  this  purpose  were  chosen  with  a 
view  to  protect  especially  the  headwaters  of  rivers, 
although  other  considerations  also  frequently  influ- 
enced the  choice.  Both  the  federal  and  several  state 
governments  took  steps  in  this  direction.  As  to 
the  federal  government,  the  first  reserves  of  this 
kind  were  the  great  national  parks  of  the  Yellow- 
stone and  the  Yosemite.  In  these,  the  protection 
of  the  forests  was  but  an  incident  to  the  object  of 
making  the  many  natural  wonders  and  the  beautiful 
scenery  of  these  regions  more  accessible  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  keep  them  from  being  destroyed  or  at  least 
monopolized  by  private  greed.  During  the  last 
few  years,  however,  a  large  number  of  forest  tracts 
in  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  various  parts  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  system,  and  the  ranges  of  the 
Pacific  coast  were  similarly  set  aside,  this  time  with 
the  express  double  purpose  of  protecting  the  timber 
and  the  water  supply  needed  for  the  irrigation 
works  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  arid  plains.  A  dis- 
tinction must  therefore  be  made  between  the  na- 
tional parks  and  the  government  forest  reserves. 
Each  class  is  governed  by  regulations  differing  in 
details  according  to  the  object  in  view  and  also  ac- 
cording to  differences  in  the  local  circumstances. 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         233 

But  both  are  alike  in  this,  that  at  last  effective  steps 
are  taken  to  guard  against  fires  and  timber  thieves. 
The  reservations  set  aside  by  various  States  like- 
wise differ,  inasmuch  as  their  principal  purpose  is 
the  preservation  of  forests  or  the  reserving  to  the 
use  of  the  people  of  districts  conspicuous  for  their 
scenery  or  other  natural  beauties.  For  instance, 
the  Adirondack  forest  reserve  of  the  State  of  New 
York  is  a  forest  reserve  proper,  while  the  interstate 
reserve  recently  established  by  Minnesota  and  Wis- 
consin about  the  dells  of  the  St.  Croix  River  is 
analogous  to  the  Yosemite  Park. 

The  government  forest  reserves  were  estab- 
lished under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of  Congress, 
approved  on  March  3,  1891,  which  authorizes  the 
President  to  withdraw  from  entry  and  sale  portions 
of  the  public  domain  which  in  his  opinion  are 
required  for  the  protection  of  the  waterflow  and 
forest  growth.  Under  this  law  over  thirty  such 
reservations  have  now  been  created,  aggregating 
almost  50,000,000  acres,  of  which  a  portion,  how- 
ever, lies  above  the  timber-line  in  the  regions  of 
eternal  snow.  It  is  likely  that  several  more  reserva- 
tions will  be  established  ere  long.  No  appreciable 
opposition  to  this  policy  was  at  first  encountered. 
But  when  by  a  proclamation  of  President  Cleveland, 
dated  February  22,  1897,  the  aggregate  extent  of 
the  reservations  theretofore  created  was  increased 
very  much  by  the  addition  of  several  more  very 
large  tracts,  a  determined  opposition  arose  on  the 
part  of  several  interests  which  believed  themselves 


234  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

injured  by  the  act  of  the  government.  Mine  owners 
claimed  that  they  were  prevented  by  the  order 
from  developing  valuable  mineral  lands ;  lumber- 
men grumbled  that  their  timber  supply  was  being 
cut  short.  It  was  stated  that  the  tracts  set  aside 
included  agricultural  lands,  and  even  village  sites, 
and  that  numerous  settlers  were  cut  off  from  com- 
munication with  the  outside  world.  But  the  loudest 
clamor  came  from  the  sheepmen,  who  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  driving  their  immense  flocks  over  the 
public  lands  without  let  or  hindrance,  leaving  de- 
struction in  their  paths.  The  opposition  succeeded 
in  getting  the  Senate  to  insert  in  the  Sundry  Civil 
Bill,  during  the  session  of  1898,  a  clause  suspending 
the  operation  of  the  orders  indefinitely,  and  restor- 
ing the  tracts  covered  by  them  to  that  part  of  the 
public  domain  open  to  private  entry.  Fortunately, 
this  aroused  the  friends  of  the  policy.  It  was 
shown  that  most  of  the  arguments  of  the  opposition 
were  based  on  an  intentional  or  unintentional  mis- 
representation of  the  facts.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives refused  to  accept  the  amendment  of  the 
Senate,  and  in  conference  the  latter  receded  from 
its  position.  Since  that  time,  President  McKinley 
has  established  several  more  forest  reservations, 
mostly  in  compliance  with  requests  from  the  people 
of  the  surrounding  regions  themselves.  The  oppo- 
sition has  almost  entirely  collapsed,  and  even  some 
of  the  sheepmen  have  seen  the  error  of  their  ways. 
The  government  had  laid  itself  open  to  attack 
from  the  business  interests  of  the  territory  affected 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         235 

by  the  orders,  because  the  plan,  as  originally  con- 
ceived, was  based  on  the  old  idea  that  preserving  a 
forest  means  refraining  from  utilizing  it.  No  pro- 
vision whatever  was  made  in  the  original  law  for 
the  proper  management  of  the  forests  so  reserved. 
In  this  the  United  States  followed  the  policy 
adopted  by  the  States  that  had  theretofore  set 
aside  forest  reserves.  With  no  little  show  of  rea- 
son it  could  be  said  that  the  withdrawal  of  these 
immense  compact  areas  of  land  from  settlement 
interfered  with  the  development  of  the  States  and 
Territories  in  which  they  were  situated.  Large 
portions  of  these  States  were  thereby  doomed  to 
remain  in  the  condition  of  useless  wilds.  At  first 
no  provision  was  made  even  for  a  proper  policing 
of  the  reservations  against  fire  and  thieves.  But 
this  defect  was  remedied  in  1898  by  the  appropria- 
tion of  a  moderate  sum  for  the  organization  of  a 
police  service.  The  land  office,  under  the  control 
of  which  these  reservations  are  placed,  at  once 
established  a  service  of  fire  rangers,  and  in  the 
very  first  season  it  was  reported  that  the  number 
and  destructiveness  of  fires  in  the  reservations  had 
been  greatly  diminished,  although  the  organization 
was  still  admittedly  imperfect. 

By  the  rules  promulgated  for  the  government  of 
the  federal  reservations  all  business  interests  estab- 
lished within  their  limits  are  duly  protected.  Set- 
tlers who  had  acquired  possession  of  lands  before 
the  tract  was  withdrawn  from  entry  are  allowed  to 
build  roads  and  cut  timber  for  domestic  and  farm 


236  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

use.  Mines  may  be  worked  and  timber  cut  for 
their  operation,  under  proper  regulations.  Even 
the  sheep  are  admitted,  to  the  northern  reserves 
at  least,  where  the  humidity  of  the  climate  is 
greater  and  the  danger  of  soil  destruction  by 
trampling  less  imminent.  But  the  number  of  ani- 
mals that  may  be  pastured  on  a  given  area  is  limited, 
and  the  owners  must  take  satisfactory  precautions 
against  fire,  on  pain  of  being  excluded  from  the 
reservation.  All  these  measures  are  desirable  as 
far  as  they  go.  But  the  policy  of  our  federal  gov- 
ernment with  regard  to  its  forests  cannot  be  called 
a  truly  rational  one  until  the  beginning  has  been 
made  to  exploit  them  with  due  regard  to  reproduc- 
tion and  improvement  of  the  stock.  To  introduce 
silvicultural  forestry  on  such  large  areas  must,  of 
course,  be  the  gradual  progress  of  many  years. 
But  there  is  no  reason  why  the  first  steps  should 
not  be  taken  at  once.  When  such  operations  are 
fairly  under  way,  the  people  of  those  western 
States  will  discover  that  far  from  being  a  drawback 
to  the  development  of  the  country  these  mountain 
forests  will  be  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  wealth 
at  their  command. 

Nowhere  has  the  fact  been  more  emphatically 
shown,  that  the  great  body  of  the  public  has  not 
yet  grasped  the  idea  of  combining  forest  utiliza- 
tion and  preservation,  than  in  the  attitude  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  When  in  1894  the  constitu- 
tional convention  met,  a  clamorous  demand  was 
made  upon  it  to  take  steps  for  the  protection  of 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods          237 

forests.  The  demand  came  almost  exclusively 
from  persons  who  had  no  business  interests  con- 
nected with  forest  exploitation,  and  many  of  the 
most  enthusiastic  friends  of  the  forests,  in  the 
newspapers  and  elsewhere,  had  but  very  slender 
information  on  the  subject.  All  they  knew  was 
that  forests  were  being  destroyed,  that  such  de- 
struction was  detrimental  to  the  climate,  waterflow, 
and  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  that  the  forests  were 
the  great  recreation  grounds  of  the  people.  They 
were  determined  that  this  destruction  of  forests 
must  stop,  and  the  convention  did  what  the  peo- 
ple demanded.  A  clause  was  inserted  in  the  con- 
stitution prohibiting  entirely  the  cutting  of  timber 
on  public  lands.  Consequently,  the  magnificent 
state  forests  of  New  York,  comprising  over  half  a 
million  of  acres,  are  doomed  to  lie  idle  and  useless 
until  this  well-meant  but  ill-advised  provision  has 
been  repealed.  The  State  of  New  York,  however, 
has  given  other  States  a  good  example  in  not  only 
appropriating  large  sums  of  money  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  additional  forest  lands,  but  also  establish- 
ing a  fairly  efficient  system  of  fire  police.  As  a 
result  of  this,  New  York  suffers  less  from  forest 
fires  at  the  present  day  than  probably  any  other 
State  of  the  Union. 

It  would  swell  this  chapter  to  unreasonable 
length  were  we  to  insert  an  enumeration  of  all 
that  has  been  done  by  the  legislative  and  admin- 
istrative action  of  the  various  state  governments 
towards  a  solution  of  the  forestry  question.  Some 


238    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

of  the  States,  notably,  in  addition  to  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  and  Minnesota,  are  somewhat  in 
advance  of  the  rest,  while  others,  whose  forest 
interests  are  among  the  greatest,  like  Michigan 
and  Wisconsin,  lag  far  behind,  and  still  others, 
like  most  of  the  southern  States,  have  done  noth- 
ing at  all.  A  number  of  States  have  established 
forestry  commissions,  whose  duties,  however,  are 
merely  of  an  advisory  nature,  without  administra- 
tive functions.  Where  forest  reservations  have 
been  set  apart,  the  idea  of  a  mere  park  or  unused 
wilderness  is  everywhere  prevalent,  and  nowhere 
has  silvicultural  forestry  been  begun  by  public  au- 
thority, except  in  connection  with  the  new  State 
College  of  Forestry  at  Cornell  University.  Of 
this  we  will  have  more  to  say  anon.  In  several 
States,  geological  surveys  and  agricultural  experi- 
ment stations  have  done  valuable  work  in  making 
inquiries  into  the  forest  conditions  existing  in  their 
respective  localities.  This  is  especially  true  of 
North  Carolina  and  Minnesota.  In  California,  an 
experiment  station  has  been  established  which  has 
devoted  itself  with  success  to  the  acclimatization 
of  trees  from  Australia  and  Asia. 

More  important  than  the  forest  inquiries  con- 
ducted by  the  several  States  is  the  similar  work 
carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment by  the  Forestry  Division  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Department.  It  dates  back  to  the  year  1878, 
but  did  not  become  of  very  much  importance  until 
about  eight  years  later,  when  Dr.  B.  E.  Fernow,  a 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods          239 

forester  who  had  received  his  training  in  the  woods 
and  schools  of  Germany,  was  placed  at  its  head. 
He  continued  in  this  position  until  1898,  when  he 
was  called  to  the  head  of  the  Forestry  College  at 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.  Under  his  management  it  became 
one  of  the  special  aims  of  the  Division  to  gain  the 
good  will  of  the  lumbermen  and  other  forestal 
business  interests  by  collecting  information  of  im- 
mediate practical  importance  to  them.  In  addition, 
the  chief  and  his  assistants  sought  by  writing  and 
lectures  to  spread  among  the  people  correct  infor- 
mation on  forestry  subjects,  and  to  their  efforts  it  is 
due  in  no  small  degree  that  the  attitude  towards 
forestry  both  of  the  business  interests  and  the  pub- 
lic at  large  has  begun  to  change  very  rapidly  during 
the  last  few  years.  Dr.  Fernow's  successor  in  office 
is  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  also  a  man  of  European 
training,  as  well  as  large  practical  experience  in 
forestry  matters  in  this  country.  Mr.  Pinchot  has 
added  to  the  other  work  of  the  Division  a  system 
by  which  owners  of  woodlands  may  call  upon  the 
officials  to  advise  them  in  the  institution  of  plans 
for  silvicultural  treatment  of  their  properties.  The 
new  departure  has  met  with  unexpected  success 
and  marks  the  first  step  towards  general  introduc- 
tion of  silvicultural  forestry  in  this  country. 

It  should  not  be  supposed  that  no  silviculture  at 
all  had  been  practised  before  this  time  in  the 
United  States.  Aside  from  the  planting  of  tree 
belts  on  the  plains,  which  has  repeatedly  been 
referred  to,  and  what  tree  planting  approaching  the 


240  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

dimensions  of  forests  may  have  been  done  in  vari- 
ous public  or  private  parks,  numerous  groves  have 
been  planted  in  various  parts  of  the  country  with  a 
direct  view  to  their  prospective  money  value,  prin- 
cipally of  black  walnut  and  other  high-priced  hard 
woods.  Again,  where  the  owner  of  timber-lots  of 
more  or  less  extent  happened  to  have  some  slight 
knowledge  of  its  proper  treatment,  or  had  an  op- 
portunity to  take  the  advice  of  some  one  who  had 
such  information,  he  has  managed  his  little  forest 
according  to  something  like  rational  principles. 
Although  wood-lots  so  treated  are  few  and  far 
between,  as  compared  with  the  number  of  such 
holdings  in  the  country,  yet  their  aggregate  acreage, 
if  it  could  be  ascertained,  would  show  a  respectable 
figure.  In  Southern  California,  considerable  tracts 
have  been  planted  with  eucalyptus  and  other  trees 
imported  from  Australia.  Still,  all  these  forestal 
operations  were  of  small  proportions.  But  silvi- 
cultural  forestry  on  a  large  scale  was  successfully 
introduced,  seven  or  eight  years  ago,  on  the  famous 
Biltmore  estate  in  North  Carolina  belonging  to 
Mr.  Geo.  W.  Vanderbilt.  The  work  was  begun 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  and 
since  his  retirement  has  been  carried  on  by  Dr.  C. 
A.  Schenck,  another  forester  of  German  training. 
The  operations  in  this  forest  were  begun  under 
rather  unfavorable  circumstances.  Most  of  the 
valuable  timber  had  been  culled  by  lumbermen,  and 
the  farmers  who  had  been  the  former  owners  had 
done  untold  mischief  by  fire,  cattle,  injudicious  cut- 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         241 

ting,  and  other  bad  practices.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, it  will  take  a  great  many  years,  during  which 
large  expenses  are  necessary,  to  bring  the  forest 
gradually  to  something  like  what  is  called  a  normal 
condition.  Notwithstanding  these  drawbacks,  it  is 
understood  that  the  enterprise  has  so  far  been  a 
financial  success.  Other  estates  of  considerable 
size,  which  were  managed  according  to  true  fores- 
try principles  before  the  above  mentioned  offer  of 
the  Forestry  Division,  are  those  at  Ne-Ha-Sa-Ne 
Park,  in  the  Adirondacks,  belonging  to  Wm.  C. 
Whitney  and  W.  S.  Webb.  Since  the  government 
has  begun  to  assist  directly  in  this  work,  in  the  fall 
of  1898,  the  extent  of  woodland  in  behalf  of  which 
applications  for  working  plans  and  supervision  have 
been  made  is  nearly  two  millions  of  acres  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country.  The  most  cheering 
feature  of  the  matter  is  that  the  majority  of  the 
applicants  are  no  longer  rich  men  whose  motives, 
like  Mr.  Vanderbilt's,  are  as  much  to  set  a  good 
example  as  to  make  money.  Most  of  them  look 
at  the  plan  strictly  from  a  business  standpoint.  Of 
the  large  concerns  which  have  availed  themselves 
of  the  offer,  the  most  conspicuous  one  is  the  Inter- 
national Paper  Company,  commonly  known  as  the 
paper  trust,  which  is  said  to  control  more  than  a 
hundred  million  acres  of  woodlands,  mostly  covered 
with  spruce. 

While  these  forward  steps  mark  the  beginning 
of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  American  forestry, 
the  time  when  agitation  and  the  dissemination 

16 


242  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

of  instruction  was  of  the  first  necessity  has  not  yet 
entirely  passed  by.  Much  still  remains  to  be  done, 
for  while  the  light  may  be  slowly  breaking  through 
the  clouds,  a  large  part  of  the  nation  still  remains 
in  ignorance  of  the  true  nature  of  forestry  and  the 
needs  of  the  people  in  regard  to  it.  Legislation  of 
the  kind  indicated  in  previous  chapters  is  still  to  be 
brought  about  in  those  States  which  have  so  far 
entirely  neglected  it,  and  existing  laws  must  be  im- 
proved and  their  scope  extended.  As  yet,  while 
public  opinion  has  very  generally  become  favorable 
to  forestry  reform  instead  of  ridiculing  it  as  for- 
merly, this  favorable  attitude  has  not  crystallized 
into  anything  more  than  a  vague  sentiment.  In 
most  States  all  practical  efforts  are  left  to  a  few 
Individuals,  on  whom  falls  the  duty  of  piloting 
proposed  measures  through  the  devious  channels 
along  which  legislative  bodies  do  their  work.  It  is 
encouraging  that  in  such  attempts  ordinarily  little 
opposition  based  on  arguments,  however  fallacious, 
in  encountered.  But  everybody  at  all  acquainted 
with  the  manner  in  which  legislation  is  brought 
about,  in  Congress  as  well  as  in  the  State  legisla- 
tures, knows  that  the  mere  absence  of  active  op- 
position is  not  sufficient  to  insure  the  passage  of  a 
bill.  It  is  necessary  to  arouse  an  active  interest 
among  the  members,  otherwise  the  mere  dead- 
weight of  indifference  is  enough  to  keep  it  from 
becoming  a  law.  Even  where  such  active  interest 
within  the  legislative  bodies  exists,  the  fate  of 
forestry  bills  is  apt  to  become  entangled  with  that 


Reform  in  Forestry  Methods         243 

of  others  in  no  wise  germane  to  them,  according  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  interests  and  ambitions  of 
members. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  agencies  of  agitation  in 
behalf  of  forestry  reform  is  the  American  Forestry 
Association,  with  its  affiliated  societies  in  several 
of  the  States.  The  American  Forestry  Association 
was  founded  in  1882.  From  small  beginnings  it 
has  grown  to  be  a  very  influential  body,  as  is 
perhaps  best  shown  by  the  abuse  occasionally 
heaped  upon  it  by  western  sheepmen  and  other 
parties,  whose  real  or  imagined  interests  conflict 
with  its  aims.  It  numbers  among  its  members 
prominent  men  in  all  walks  of  life,  including  lumber- 
men, manufacturers,  statesmen,  and  scientists.  The 
association  holds  meetings,  from  time  to  time,  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  at  which  papers  are 
read,  questions  of  general  interest  discussed,  and 
other  business  transacted.  The  meeting  of  the  asso- 
ciation in  any  given  community  usually  results  in  a 
great  quickening  of  local  interest  in  forestry  matters, 
with  consequent  good  results  in  practice  and  legis- 
lation. The  association  also  publishes  a  monthly 
periodical,  called  The  Forester,  which  is  doing  ex- 
cellent service  in  spreading  information,  affording 
a  medium  of  discussion  and  collecting  news  in 
forestry  matters.  This  magazine  was  originally 
founded  by  Mr.  John  Gifford,  of  New  Jersey,  one 
of  the  pioneers  in  the  forestry-reform  movement. 
He  transferred  it  to  the  association,  to  be  its  offi- 
cial organ.  Another  similar  publication  is  Forest 


244  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

Leaves,  appearing  under  the  auspices  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Forestry  Association.  The  excellent 
periodical  called  Garden  and  Forest,  which  had 
forestry  for  one  of  its  fields  of  work,  has  unfortu- 
nately been  obliged  to  suspend.  In  this  connection 
it  should  be  stated  that  the  lumbering  and  other 
trade  papers  representing  industries  dependent  on 
forests  are  now  mostly  among  the  stanchest  sup- 
porters of  improved  methods.  At  first  these 
people  were  very  contemptuous  of  the  entire 
movement.  But  gradually  they  discovered  that 
forestry  reform  was  not  a  fad  of  theorists,  dreamers, 
and  impracticables,  but  a  very  business-like  prop- 
osition, of  the  utmost  importance  to  their  branches 
of  trade,  as  well  as  to  the  whole  nation. 

The  above  partial  enumeration  of  what  is  being 
done  in  the  United  States  for  the  promotion  of 
better  treatment  and  utilization  of  our  forest  re- 
sources must  suffice  for  the  purposes  of  this  little 
volume.  We  are  nearing  the  end  of  our  cursory 
survey  of  the  vast  subject.  One  thing  remains  to 
be  discussed :  The  work  of  introducing  into  this 
country  a  better  system  of  managing  forests  requires 
the  best  powers  of  a  multitude  of  trained  men. 
How  can  such  men  be  found?  How  can  they  be 
prepared  for  their  work?  What  are  the  qualifi- 
cations they  should  possess,  and  what  are  the 
rewards  that  may  be  held  out  to  them  ? 


CHAPTER  XII 

FORESTRY   AS  A   PROFESSION 

THE  profession  of  forestry  is  distinguished  for 
this,  that  it  brings  one  into  touch  with  more 
branches  of  knowledge  and  more  fields  of  work 
than  any  other,  excepting  only  the  profession  of 
law.  When  we  speak  of  a  professional  forester  we 
are  apt  to  think  mostly  of  the  man  who  manages  a 
given  tract  of  woodland,  superintends  the  proper 
silvicultural  labors,  and  markets  the  products.  Yet 
that  is  but  a  branch  of  forestry.  He  also  is  a  for- 
ester who  administers  the  various  laws  regulating 
the  treatment  of  forest  lands  in  the  interest  of  the 
national  life  ;  and  the  name  should  not  be  withheld 
from  men  whose  life-work  consists  of  investigations 
into  the  physical  and  economic  conditions  on  which 
the  forestry  of  the  nation  is  based. 

On  its  silvicultural  and  technical  side,  forestry 
must  be  based  on  a  sound  comprehension  of  the 
physical  and  biological  sciences.  Geology,  to  un- 
derstand the  relations  of  soils  and  topographical 
conditions ;  botany,  in  all  its  branches,  to  compre- 
hend the  life  of  the  material  he  has  to  deal  with  ; 
zoology,  to  learn  how  the  animal  world  affects  his 
trees ;  meteorology,  to  get  an  insight  into  the 

245 


246  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

climatic  requirements  of  his  forest ;  all  of  these  must 
be  assiduously  studied  by  the  forester.  Mathe- 
matics is  evidently  a  fundamental  part  of  his  equip- 
ment, for  without  its  aid  an  accurate  mensuration 
of  his  property  is  impossible,  and  all  calculations 
regarding  its  value  would  hang  in  the  air.  More- 
over, a  certain  knowledge  of  mathematics  is  re- 
quired for  road  building  and  similar  operations, 
for  which  the  aid  of  an  engineer  is  not  always 
available. 

Leaving  the  technical  branch  of  forestry,  we  find 
that  on  the  economic  side  a  comprehension  of  the 
laws  which  regulate  the  production,  distribution,  and 
consumption  of  wealth  is  needed,  in  order  that  the 
financial  results  of  forestal  operations  may  not  be 
left  to  chance.  The  administrative  side,  at  last, 
requires  an  understanding  of  the  whole  complex  life 
of  the  nation  and  even  of  the  whole  human  world, 
so  that  the  work  may  be  properly  adapted  to  its 
place  as  but  one  wheel  in  the  gigantic  machinery  of 
society.  To  this  end  the  social  and  political  rela- 
tions of  the  nation, —  history,  law,  and  govern- 
ment —  must  not  be  unknown  to  the  forester  who 
wishes  to  be  a  master  in  his  chosen  field. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  no  man  can  be  equally 
proficient  in  all  these  branches  of  his  art,  even  theo- 
retically, not  to  speak  of  their  practical  application. 
But  a  knowledge  of  their  fundamental  principles  is 
necessary  to  all  members  of  the  profession.  After 
that  has  been  acquired  each  man  will  become  a 
specialist  in  some  chosen  field,  according  to  his  taste 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  247 

or  opportunities.  It  is  sometimes  stated  as  the 
ideal  of  a  well-informed  man, — to  know  something 
about  everything  and  all  about  something.  This  is 
peculiarly  applicable  to  the  well-trained  forester. 

To  some  readers,  men  who  pride  themselves 
upon  their  practical  sense,  all  this  may  seem  some- 
what extravagant.  They  may  think  that  for  each 
particular  kind  of  work  a  far  less  comprehensive 
training  is  entirely  sufficient.  From  one  point  of 
view  they  are  right.  To  learn  the  silvicultural  op- 
erations demanded  in  a  given  locality  requires  no 
university  training.  Any  fairly  intelligent  woods- 
man would  learn  them  in  a  short  time,  provided 
somebody  taught  him.  But  suppose  that  this 
woodsman  were  transferred  to  another  district 
where  forestal  conditions  were  different.  Would 
he  be  able  to  conduct  the  operations  required  under 
the  altered  circumstances  without  first  being  taught 
again  ?  Clearly  not.  The  difference  is  the  same 
as  that  in  a  large  factory  or  foundry,  where  an  in- 
telligent man  with  practical  training  at  the  work- 
bench may  make  an  excellent  foreman  ;  but  the 
general  superintendent  of  the  works,  the  man  who 
plans  and  devises,  must  be  an  instructed  and  trained 
engineer.  It  is  the  distinction  between  the  artisan 
and  the  professional  man. 

Of  course,  it  is  emphatically  true  that  mere  scho- 
lastic training,  however  thorough  and  broad,  does 
not  make  the  forester,  any  more  than  it  makes  the 
lawyer  or  the  physician.  To  native  gifts  and  scho- 
lastic instruction  must  be  added  the  training  received 


248    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

nowhere  but  in  the  actual  life  of  the  world,  in  the  in- 
tercourse with  men.  The  forester  is  not  a  man  of 
science — not  primarily  a  scholar.  This  should  be 
urged  continually  in  the  United  States,  because 
the  contrary  view  is  still  so  prevalent  and  prevents 
a  just  appreciation  of  the  forester's  work.  He  is  a 
man  of  business.  More  important  than  his  knowl- 
edge of  trees  and  lumber  and  lands,  more  impor- 
tant than  his  mathematical  or  economic  lore,  is  his 
knowledge  of  men.  With  men  he  has  to  deal, 
whether  he  is  in  the  woods  superintending  a  gang 
of  workmen,  or  going  into  the  market  to  drive 
shrewd  bargains  and  sell  his  wares ;  or  whether  he 
sits  in  an  office  at  the  state  capital  directing  his 
subordinates  and  consulting  with  politicians. 

This  necessity  of  dealing  with  men  is  another 
reason  why  the  forester  should  be  a  professional 
man  rather  than  an  artisan.  The  craft  of  the  lat- 
ter works  upon  dead  matter;  a  profession  influ- 
ences living  men.  It  is  a  reason,  also,  why  the 
training  of  a  forester  at  college  should  not  be  a 
narrowly  technical  one.  For  a  broad,  liberal  cul- 
ture is  the  best  basis  for  a  deep  and  comprehensive 
insight  into  the  ways  of  men  of  all  classes. 

Having  thus  fixed  the  standard  for  a  forester's 
training,  let  us  see  what  means  there  are  in  the 
United  States  for  obtaining  it. 

The  methods  of  giving  forestry  instruction  in 
Germany,  the  classical  land  both  of  universities 
and  forestry,  cannot  be  closely  copied  in  the  United 
States  for  many  reasons.  One  of  these  is  that  the 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  249 

only  object  of  German  instruction  is  to  create  a 
body  of  men  capable  of  filling  places  in  the  elabo- 
rate forestry  service  of  that  country.  Our  aims 
must  be  different.  Undoubtedly,  as  the  introduc- 
tion of  silvicultural  forestry  progresses,  an  increas- 
ing demand  for  expert  managers  of  woodlands  will 
arise.  These  our  colleges  and  universities  ought 
to  supply.  But  they  ought  to  do  more.  For  a 
long  time  to  come  there  will  be  many  men  who, 
without  being  professional  foresters,  will  find  it  de- 
sirable in  their  business  of  lumbering,  or  other 
industries,  dependent  on  forest  products,  to  have 
a  comprehensive  insight  into  forestry  in  all  its 
branches.  Moreover,  it  is  certain  that  the  ques- 
tion of  proper  treatment  of  our  forest  resources 
will  soon  play,  for  a  time,  a  very  important  part  in 
the  public  life  of  our  nation.  For  this  reason, 
many  students  in  all  departments  will  wish  to  have 
a  proper  understanding  of  the  relations  the  forests 
and  forest  industries  bear  to  the  national  life.  To 
these  non-professional  students  the  purely  techni- 
cal branches,  like  silviculture  and  mensuration,  will 
be  of  minor  importance.  But  forestry,  on  its  eco- 
nomic, administrative,  and  political  side,  will  be 
very  attractive. 

The  needs  of  both  the  professional  and  non-pro- 
fessional class  of  students  have  been  admirably 
provided  for  in  the  New  York  State  College  of 
Forestry,  which  in  the  year  1898  was  opened  as 
an  integral  part  of  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca. 
Far  from  considering  his  department  a  mere 


250    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

training-school,  where  young  men  are  given  the  rudi- 
ments of  forestry  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  the 
dean  of  this  institution,  Dr.  B.  E.  Fernow,  believes 
that  a  forester  should  first  of  all  be  a  man  of  lib- 
eral education.  He  therefore  provides  a  curricu- 
lum, the  first  two  years  of  which  are  spent  in 
acquiring  fundamental  and  general  training  and 
information.  While  the  sciences,  as  is  proper, 
take  the  first  rank  in  the  student's  tasks,  languages 
and  literature  are  not  neglected.  Not  until  the 
third  college  year  do  technical  forestry  studies 
begin.  In  the  fourth  year,  the  future  forester's 
work  becomes  intensely  practical.  The  university 
possesses  a  large  tract  of  forest  land  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  the  gift  of  the  State.  Here  the  senior 
students  will  learn,  under  the  supervision  of  Pro- 
fessors Filibert  Roth  and  John  Gifford,  the  various 
technical  operations  required  in  forestry,  from  seed- 
ing and  planting  trees  to  sawing  the  logs  into  lum- 
ber. It  is  the  intention  of  the  university  to  make 
its  forest  a  shining  example  of  how  a  forest  should 
be  managed,  and  the  aim  will  therefore  be,  not  only 
to  afford  instruction  to  the  students,  but  to  make 
the  management  a  financial  success. 

At  Biltmore,  the  North  Carolina  forest  estate 
which  has  frequently  been  mentioned,  Doctor 
Schenck  has  opened  a  school  where  students  of 
sufficient  preliminary  training  may  become  pro- 
fessional foresters.  The  Forestry  Division  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Department  also  has  a 
limited  number  of  places  for  student-employees, 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  251 

where  young  men  of  suitable  preparation  may  get 
a  professional  training  as  assistants  in  actual  for- 
estry work,  both  in  the  field  and  in  the  office.  For 
a  good  many  years  to  come,  every  forester  trained 
in  America  will  find  it  quite  an  essential  part  of 
his  education  to  spend  some  time  in  the  forests  of 
Central  Europe ;  for  in  this  country  he  may  see 
beginnings  of  silvicultural  operations,  but  not  their 
later  progress  and  final  results.  The  various  agri- 
cultural colleges,  as  well  as  some  other  similar  in- 
stitutions throughout  the  country,  sometimes  offer 
courses  in  forestry,  and  a  few  even  have  professors 
of  that  subject.  These  courses  are  not  designed 
to  train  professional  foresters,  nor  even  to  give 
that  broad  and  comprehensive  insight  into  forestry 
which  is  striven  for  at  Cornell  for  non-professional 
students.  They  simply  aim  to  teach  the  young 
farmers,  dairymen,  and  followers  of  similar  occupa- 
tions who  attend  these  schools,  the  elements  of 
arboriculture,  the  relations  of  forests  to  climate 
and  waterflow,  and  the  importance  of  forests  in  the 
economy  of  the  nation.  Within  these  limits,  courses 
of  this  kind  do  a  great  deal  of  good,  both  by  teach- 
ing the  students  many  things  of  advantage  to  them 
in  their  agricultural  work,  and  by  spreading  among 
broad  masses  of  the  people  juster  notions  about 
the  value  of  our  forest  resources.  Many  of  the 
teachers  engaged  in  this  work  are  men  of  consid- 
erable ability,  and  some  are  doing  excellent  service 
by  original  investigations  and  by  their  influence  on 
public  opinion.  The  main  criticism  to  make  is 


252  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

that  not  rarely  the  designating  as  forestry  what  is 
really  a  branch  of  horticulture  tends  to  perpetuate 
a  confusion  which  has  already  done  much  mischief. 

It  is  very  probable  that  within  a  few  years  some 
of  these  colleges,  and  especially  those  connected 
with  the  greater  universities,  will  extend  their  for- 
estry courses  and  perhaps  attempt  to  give  instruc- 
tion similar  to  that  at  Cornell.  If  that  is  done,  and 
unless  a  separate  College  of  Forestry  is  established, 
the  instruction  in  this  branch  ought  to  be  severed 
from  the  agricultural  department.  Forestry  as  a 
profession  and  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  have 
but  little  in  common.  Nor  does  forestry  belong 
properly  with  the  Department  of  Science.  Its 
true  relations  are  with  economics  or  civics.  To 
the  professional  student  the  correlation  of  forestry 
with  other  departments  of  the  university  will  per- 
haps make  little  difference.  But  it  will  be  of  great 
importance  in  attracting  to  its  comprehensive 
courses  those  students  from  whose  number  will 
come  the  future  leaders  in  public  affairs,  and  who 
are  not  ordinarily  found  in  the  scientific  depart- 
ment. The  scientific  men,  botanists  and  others, 
have  heretofore  taken  so  prominent  a  part  in  the 
American  forestry  movement  that  it  may  seem 
natural  to  some  university  men  to  make  forestry 
instruction  a  branch  of  physical  and  biological  sci- 
ence teaching.  To  me  this  would  appear  to  be  a 
mistake  that  might  prove  a  serious  hindrance  in 
the  work. 

What  opportunities  to  engage   in  their  chosen 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  253 

profession  will  there  be  for  young  men  trained  as 
is  here  indicated  ?  A  few  years  ago,  the  answer 
would  have  had  to  be  :  There  are  practically  none 
in  the  United  States.  But  circumstances  are 
changing  very  rapidly  indeed,  and  the  demand  for 
trained  foresters  will  probably  soon  outrun  the  sup- 
ply and  continue  to  do  so  for  some  time.  In  the 
first  place  there  will  be  opportunities  for  remunera- 
tive work  in  the  service  of  both  the  United  States 
and  several  of  the  States.  More  desirable,  from  a 
pecuniary  standpoint,  will  probably  be  positions  in 
the  service  of  large  corporations  owning  timber 
lands.  There  will  also  be  a  field  for  private  prac- 
tice as  consulting  foresters  and  appraisers,  just  as 
there  are  now  consulting  engineers  and  men  who 
make  a  business  of  estimating  the  value  of  manu- 
facturing plants.  Then  there  will  be  opportunities 
afforded  by  the  universities  and  experiment  stations 
for  men  to  devote  themselves  to  original  investi- 
gation and  teaching  of  forestry.  This  profession, 
like  all  others  worthy  of  the  name,  will  never  be  a 
ready  means  for  acquiring  great  wealth.  That 
must  be  left  to  speculation  and  trade.  But  forestry 
will  afford  a  respectable  livelihood,  and,  for  the  rest, 
it  carries  with  it  certain  intrinsic  rewards  which 
ought  to  make  it  attractive  to  a  good  many  young 
men  of  ability.  The  many-sidedness  of  the  work 
is  one  of  these  attractions.  Forestry  engages  the 
whole  man,  not  merely  a  particular  side  of  his  na- 
ture. The  work  in  the  field  is  often  arduous  in 
the  extreme,  and  a  rugged  bodily  constitution  is 


254  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

required  of  the  forester ;  soon,  indeed,  the  novice 
will  discover  the  difference  between  camping  in 
the  woods  for  recreation  and  working"  in  them. 
But  then,  the  outdoor  life  and  intimacy  with  na- 
ture, of  which  this  work  requires  so  much,  will  in 
itself  be  a  pleasure  to  not  a  few.  One  chief  ad- 
vantage which  the  American  forester  will  have  for 
some  time  to  come  over  the  members  of  other  pro- 
fessions, as  well  as  his  brethren  in  Europe,  is  that 
his  is  pioneer  work.  He  is  called  upon  to  lay  the 
foundations  on  which  future  generations  will  build. 
That  is  a  fearful  responsibility,  for  the  way  in 
which  each  forester  of  the  next  twenty-five  years 
will  do  his  duty  is  bound  to  be  of  immeasurable 
influence  upon  the  future  destiny  of  the  American 
people.  But  it  is  also  an  opportunity  such  as  does 
not  often  come  to  a  body  of  workers.  Grave  re- 
sponsibilities are  of  themselves  powerful  attrac- 
tions to  strong  men. 

Let  us  hope,  in  behalf  of  the  welfare  of  our 
country  and  nation,  that,  as  the  initial  decades  of 
the  new  century  shall  make  more  and  more  appar- 
ent the  crying  need  for  improvement  in  the  treat- 
ment of  this  great  natural  foundation  of  our  life  as 
a  people,  there  will  arise  a  class  of  men  able  to 
perform  the  tasks  that  will  be  thrust  upon  them. 
Those  tasks  will  call  for  the  services  of  the  highest 
type  of  American  manhood.  We  will  need  men 
capable  of  attending  to  the  smallest  detail  as  well 
as  grasping  the  vast  relations  of  their  work  with 
the  highest  interests  of  mankind.  No  pygmy  men 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  255 

are  sufficient  to  cope  with  the  subject,  no  pedants 
of  the  school  or  of  the  workshop,  nor  men  with  the 
day  laborer's  mind,  counting  their  wages.  Nor 
have  we  room  to  spare  for  the  dealer  in  words, — the 
boaster,  the  flighty  hero  of  the  mass  meeting  or 
the  political  convention.  Men  are  needed  of  quiet 
enthusiasm,  courage,  strength,  and  knowledge,  men 
who  have  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  their  task,  who 
deem  their  work  far  greater  than  themselves,  who 
take  rewards  gladly  when  they  come,  but  do  not 
shape  their  course  for  them.  Never  yet  has  the 
American  nation  failed  to  find  such  men  when 
they  were  needed.  Here  they  are  needed  to  do 
work  that  is  not  picturesque  like  that  of  the  soldier 
or  sailor,  nor  done  in  the  sight  of  all  like  the 
orator's  and  statesman's,  but  work  that  is  drudgery, 
— not  a  little  of  it — and  will  never  earn  the  ac- 
claims of  the  multitude.  Shall  America  be  de- 
serted in  this  need  of  hers  ? 

Our  survey  of  American  forests  and  forestry  has 
come  to  its  end.  Imperfect  though  the  work 
undoubtedly  is,  the  author  trusts  that  it  may  ac- 
complish some  of  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
written.  It  is  not  intended  to  serve  as  a  manual 
of  forestry  or  any  branch  of  it.  But  it  has  been 
our  aim  to  give  a  comprehensive  insight  into  one 
of  the  most  important  of  the  phases  of  our  na- 
tional life  to  the  large  number  of  Americans  who 
feel  that  they  must  understand  these  phases  in 
order  to  become  true  citizens. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  impress  upon  Americans 


256  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

the  truth  that  the  higher  life  of  a  nation, — its  moral 
development,  the  life  of  the  spirit,  intellectual  and 
aesthetic  aspirations, — must  rest  upon  a  solid  founda- 
tion of  material  achievement.  We  are  but  too  prone 
to  consider  that  foundation  of  more  importance 
than  the  superstructure.  Attending  to  the  mate- 
rial needs  with  all  too  exclusive  absorption,  many  of 
us  lose  touch  with  immaterial  things,  and  the  mind 
becomes  degraded  to  what  it  works  in,  as  the  dyer's 
hand  assumes  the  color  of  his  cauldron.  The  for- 
ester's work  is  primarily  concerned  with  material 
things.  He  is  exploiting  the  gifts  of  nature  to  sup- 
ply the  material  wants  and  luxuries  of  man,  and  in 
doing  so  aims  to  get  his  portion  of  personal  benefit. 
But  if  he  has  truly  grasped  the  significance  of  his 
profession,  he  realizes  that  his  work  is  not  done  for 
himself  alone,  nor  merely  in  order  that  the  lower 
desires  of  others  may  be  gratified.  He  knows  that 
he  is  an  integral,  necessary  part  of  the  grand  organ- 
ism of  the  American  nation,  taking  his  appointed 
place  to  do  his  appointed  work.  Compared  to  the 
life  of  that  sublime  organism,  the  life  of  the  individ- 
ual, his  personal  successes,  his  sufferings  and  joys, 
are  nothing.  His  work  is  everything.  Let  him  be 
steadfast  and  do  it. 

And  because  the  work  of  forestry  is  but  a  part  of 
a  grander  and  more  important  whole,  a  part  that 
cannot  be  dispensed  with  any  more  than  the  plough- 
ing and  reaping  of  the  farmer,  the  hammering  and 
riveting  of  the  mechanic,  as  well  as  the  labors  of 
those  who  are  leaders  of  men  in  all  divisions  of  life  ; 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  257 

because  forestry  is  one  of  the  great  foundation- 
stones  of  the  nation,  it  behooves  every  American  to 
have  a  just  conception  of  its  meaning.  Such  a  con- 
ception the  author  has  tried  to  give.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary, for  this  purpose,  to  know  much  about  the 
technical  details  of  the  forester's  labors.  The  mys- 
teries of  silviculture  and  mensuration,  let  them  re- 
main mysteries  to  all  but  those  whose  business  it  is 
to  apply  these  arts.  The  complicated  lore  of  the 
lumber  camp  and  the  sawmill,  the  jargon  of  the 
market,  would  be  a  useless  burden  to  the  memories 
of  all  but  those  whose  business  requires  such  knowl- 
edge. But  how  can  one  intelligently  participate  in 
the  great  social  and  political  life  of  our  people  ;  how 
especially  dare  one  aspire  to  take  a  leader's  part  on 
any  of  the  multifarious  roads  along  which  travels 
the  nation's  progress,  unless  he  sees  the  relation 
which  this  vast  subject  of  forestry  bears  to  the  other 
great  interests  of  our  people  ?  Therefore  this  book 
hopes  to  impart  to  some  educated  and  intelligent 
Americans  a  kind  of  knowledge  on  this  subject, 
which  as  yet  many  of  them  utterly  lack.  Therefore 
we  have  tried  to  unroll  a  picture,  inadequate  though 
it  must  naturally  be,  of  the  American  forests  as 
they  grew  and  flourished  under  the  guidance  of 
nature  alone.  We  endeavored  to  show  how  the 
primeval  woods  were  not  the  product  of  accident,  a 
vast  assemblage  of  trees  growing  where  they  did 
without  order  and  reason,  and  having  no  relation  or 
interdependence  with  each  other  and  the  rest  of  the 
natural  life  of  the  world.  On  the  contrary,  we 


258  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

attempted  to  make  clear  that  the  forest  was  a  com- 
plicated organism  in  which  every  part  sustained 
definite  relations  to  every  other  part,  a  natural 
community,  which  had  its  history,  its  internal  strug- 
gles and  outward  battles,  like  the  communities  of 
men.  To  trace  the  processes  of  this  organic  life, 
to  learn  its  determining  factors,  and  discover  the 
causal  connections  of  the  multitude  of  phenomena, 
is  the  first  duty  and  one  of  the  most  important  of 
the  forester.  It  is  a  task  full  of  difficulty  but  also 
of  charm,  a  task  to  which  only  the  deep  and  wide 
knowledge,  the  quick  observation,  the  patient  care 
of  the  trained  intellect  is  equal,  but  which  bears  in 
itself  its  greatest  reward. 

Next  we  proceeded  to  show  how  the  life  of  the 
white  man  on  American  soil  was  from  the  first  de- 
termined in  no  small  degree  by  the  existence  of  the 
forest.  To  that  ever-present  fact  the  whole  life  of 
the  nascent  American  people  had  to  accommodate 
itself.  We  had  to  resist  the  temptation  to  dwell 
too  long  on  the  heroic  age  of  American  history, 
which  in  the  dark  shades  of  the  eastern  forest  un- 
rolled the  spectacle  of  civilized  man  being  thrown 
back  on  primeval  conditions,  having  to  fight  for  his 
life  with  the  uncontrolled  forces  of  nature,  while 
struggling  for  mastery  against  the  red  Indian,  the 
Frenchman,  and  the  Spaniard.  Upon  the  age  of 
the  backwoodsman  and  the  fur-trader  followed  the 
age  of  the  lumberman.  While  in  the  preceding 
period  the  small  host  of  white  invaders  came  under 
the  influence  of  the  forest  in  which  they  dwelt  so 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  259 

completely  that  an  entirely  new  type  of  man  was 
created  thereby,  things  were  reversed  in  the  new 
days.  Re-enforced  by  the  railroad  and  the  mani- 
fold machinery  of  an  industrial  civilization,  man 
now  conquered  the  forest.  He  made  it  subject  to 
himself  and  took  of  its  treasures  what  pleased  him. 
But  in  the  zeal  and  haste  of  the  victory  the  Amer- 
ican people  were  in  danger  of  destroying  that  which, 
lovingly  and  understandingly  cared  for,  would  be- 
come their  best  friend.  So  we  approached  the  sec- 
ond part  of  our  subject,  and  began  to  consider  how 
the  interests  of  the  nation  could  best  be  served  with 
regard  to  treating  this  immense  natural  source  of 
wealth  which  had  become  ours.  First  we  found  in 
our  path  all  manner  of  misconceptions  and  erroneous 
impressions  regarding  forestry.  Having  cleared 
these  out  of  our  way,  we  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  forests  are  indeed  necessary  to  our  country,  as 
great  regulators  of  meteorological  processes  miti- 
gating the  evil  effects  of  storm  and  flood,  keeping 
erosion  down  to  a  moderate  degree,  and  influencing 
climatic  conditions.  For  these  reasons  alone  we 
found  that  it  would  be  wise  to  save  the  remnants  of 
the  natural  forest  from  destruction.  But  we  were 
able  to  go  a  step  farther  and  say  that  it  is  not  nec- 
essary, in  order  to  so  preserve  them,  to  refrain  from 
utilizing  the  products  of  the  forest  for  the  hundreds 
of  uses  to  which  man's  ingenuity  has  put  them.  On 
the  contrary,  we  found  that  a  wise  treatment  would 
enable  us  to  gain  even  more  of  these  products  than 
the  natural  forest  would  furnish,  and  yet  not  only 


260  North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

leave  its  permanency  assured,  but  even  increase  its 
vigor  and  value. 

Thus  we  were  led  to  consider  the  reasons  why 
the  methods  of  silvicultural  forestry  had  not  yet 
been  more  widely  adopted  in  this  country.  There 
we  concluded  that  conditions  dependent  on  the  ac- 
tion of  legislation  and  government  arose  as  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  private  enterprise  in  this  direction. 
Here  we  arrived  at  one  of  the  most  obvious  reasons 
why  such  a  book  as  this  has  a  right  to  exist  and  a 
work  to  perform  :  Legislation  depends  upon  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  public  opinion  must  be  created  and 
instructed  by  just  such  means  as  this. 

May  this  little  book  do  its  share  in  creating  this 
necessary  instrument  for  the  solution  of  the  forestry 
problem.  Democracy,  which  was  born  in  America 
and  was  the  first  great  contribution  of  the  western 
hemisphere  to  civilization,  is  entering  upon  a  new 
epoch,  in  which  it  will  be  subjected  to  new  and  tre- 
mendous tests  before  it  can  be  definitely  upheld  as 
a  practicable  scheme  for  the  organization  of  a  great 
nation.  Until  now  the  test  has  not  been  a  fair  one, 
for  the  environment  of  the  American  people  offered 
too  many  adventitious  advantages.  We  were  a 
people  comparatively  homogeneous,  without  deep 
and  wide  divisions  based  upon  racial,  religious,  eco- 
nomic, or  social  distinctions.  With  the  one  excep- 
tion of  the  conflict  about  slavery,  all  our  political 
and  social  contentions  touched  little  more  than  the 
surface  of  our  body  politic.  That  one  struggle,  to 
be  sure,  came  but  too  near  to  prove  Democracy  a 


Forestry  as  a  Profession  261 

failure.  But  far  severer  tests  may  be  in  store  for 
us.  Within  a  short  time  our  social  organization 
has  become  infinitely  more  complex  than  formerly, 
and  the  dividing  lines  between  the  different  classes 
have  become  more  difficult  to  cross.  It  is  growing 
harder  and  harder  for  the  eastern  man  to  under- 
stand the  mental  and  moral  attitude  of  his  western 
compatriot,  and  for  both  to  understand  the  Califor- 
nian.  The  multitudes  of  our  citizens  whose  ances- 
try is  other  than  British  do  not  think  and  feel 
in  every  way  as  the  British  descendant  does,  and  in 
the  sections  where  they  predominate  a  new  type  of 
American  is  gradually  evolving,  different  in  many 
ways  from  the  type  the  world  used  to  know.  We 
are  no  longer  a  Protestant  people  ;  and  who  will  say 
that  we  always  comprehend  how  our  Catholic  fellow- 
citizen  looks  at  things.  Worse  than  all,  we  now 
have  what  we  used  to  boast  of  not  having  :  a  pro- 
letariat, a  class  of  men  sunk  into  a  kind  of  poverty 
that  is  not  merely  a  temporary  condition  from  which 
ability  and  self-control  can  raise  the  poor  man  or 
his  children,  but  a  poverty  which  constitutes  a 
hopeless,  helpless  limbo,  a  social  cesspool  of  igno- 
rance, vice,  and  degeneracy.  Surely,  here  are  many 
causes  for  social  and  political  struggles  that  may  in 
the  future  shake  nation  and  society  to  their  deepest 
foundations. 

To  those  who  see  the  hope  of  mankind  in  a  per- 
fected and  purified  Democracy,  the  right  solution, 
by  our  democratic  society,  of  such  a  problem  as 
that  of  forestry  reform  would  be  of  particularly 


262    North  American  Forests  and  Forestry 

cheerful  omen.  That  Democracy  can  repulse  for- 
eign aggression  and  even  aggressively  exert  its 
masterfulness,  we  know.  That  it  is  able  to  cope 
with  problems  which  arouse  the  depths  of  all  men's 
emotions  and  bring  to  white  heat  the  fire  of  patriotic 
and  moral  fervor,  the  solving  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion has  taught  us.  But  this  question  of  forestry 
cannot  be  solved  by  sudden  bursts  of  enthusiasm, 
and  does  not  appeal  to  man's  emotional  nature.  It 
must  be  solved  by  seventy  millions  of  men  and 
women,  each  of  whom  has  his  own  particular  in- 
terests to  make  him  indifferent  to  what  concerns 
him  little  individually.  This  must  be  done  by  sim- 
ple, cold-blooded,  calculating  reason,  in  the  face  of 
all  the  opposition  which  can  be  generated  by  habits 
contracted  during  seven  generations,  conflicting  in- 
terests of  private  parties,  and  the  dead-weight  of 
unreasoning  conservatism.  If  Democracy  is  able 
to  perform  such  a  feat  as  this,  it  need  not  shrink 
from  the  more  exciting  tasks  which  the  future  may 
have  in  store  for  it. 

It  looks  as  if  American  Democracy  were  going 
to  perform  the  feat.  Let  every  lover  of  his  country 
do  his  part  in  the  work. 


INDEX 


Agricultural  colleges,  forestry  in,  251 

—  lands,  forest  and,  190 
American  Forestry  Association,  243 

Backwoods  transportation  in,  48 
Backwoodsman,  and  plainsman,  43 

—  type  of  the,  41 
Backwoodsmen,  attitude  of,  towards 

forest,  56 

—  influence  of,  on  American  history, 

43 

—  last  traces  of,  53 
Barren  Grounds,  15 
Biltmore,  64,  129,  240 
Booms,  78 

Burnt  areas,  restocking  of,  117 

Cattle,  injury  by,  119 

Climate,  forests  and,  166 

College    of     Forestry,    New    York 

State,  238,  249 
Compartments,  151 
Coppice,  138 

Cornell  University,  forestry  in,  238 
Cruisers,  81 

Denuded  areas,  30,  96 
Duty  on  lumber,  160,  224 

Education  in  forestry,  248 
Erosion,  forests  and,  169 
Estimates  of  timber,  215 
Excelsior,  62 
Exhaustion  of   timber   supply,    66, 

74,  153 

Expectation  value,  214 
Experiment  stations,  238 

Fencing  material,  60 
Fernow,  Dr.  B.  E.,  238 
Fire  and  education,  202 

—  and  lumbering,  204 

—  and  morals,  201 


Fire  and  settlers,  IOO 

—  and  the  press,  201 

—  burning  litter,  200 

—  causes  of,  98,  183 

—  destructive,  104 

—  Hinckley,  in 

—  injury  done  by,  105,  113,  116 

—  legitimate  use  of,  99 

—  Peshtigo,  no 

—  police,  187,  197 

—  police  in  Canada,  199 

—  progress  of  a,  102 

—  protection  in  Europe,  187 

—  protective  measures  against,  186 

—  Saginaw,  in 

—  set  to  improve  pasture,  99 

—  wardens,  198 

—  warning  signs,  203 
Fires,  classes  of  forest,  115 

—  laws  regulating,  197 

—  penal  statutes  against,  195 
Fireweeds,  117 
Firewood,  63 

Forest,  an  organism,  6 

—  Atlantic,  8 

—  disappearance  of,  and  lumbermen, 

96 

—  eastern,  8 

—  industries,  60 

—  Pacific  coast,  10 

—  policy  a  cause  of  the  Revolution, 

31 

—  policy  in  colonial  times,  34 

—  Puget  Sound,  12 

—  regions,  5 

—  reserves,  232 

—  Rocky  Mountain,  10 

—  warfare  of  the,  7,  16 
Foresters,  opportunities  for,  252 
Forestry  and  landscape  gardening, 

128 

—  and  lumber  trade  journals,  244 

—  and  tree  planting,  133 


263 


264 


Index 


Forestry  Division,  U.  S.,  238 

—  European  methods  of,  124 

—  financial  considerations  in,  142 

—  in  the  universities,  249 

—  legislation  and,  180,  237 

—  meaning  of,  121 

—  periodicals,  243 

—  profession  or  trade  ?  247 

—  public  interest  in,  129 

—  reforms  in  Germany,  228 

—  scientists  and,  228,  230 

—  should  be  profitable,  129 

—  various  objects  of,  125 
Forests,  advancing  on  prairies,  92 

—  and  agricultural  lands,  95 

—  and  climate,  166 

—  and  erosion,  169 

—  dependent  on  natural  laws,  32 

—  deterioration  of,  93 

—  disappearance  of,  89 

—  distribution  of,  13 

—  history  of,  14 

—  natural  and  cultivated,  134 

—  natural  extension  of,  92 

—  owned  by  governments,  130 

—  waterflow  and,  167 

—  wild  animals  in  American,  51 
Frame  houses,  advantages  of,  73 

Game  preserves,  128 
Geological  surveys,  238 
Gifford,  John,  243 
Glacial  period,  14 
Government,  forestry  and,  161 

Improvement  cuttings,  135 
Information,  collection  off  178 
Irrigation,  171 

Labor,  price  of,  155 

Land  tenure  unsuitable,  for  fores- 
try, 191 

Legislation  on  forestry,  237 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  influence  of  the 
forest  on,  46 

Log-jams,  85 

Logs,  driving  of,  79,  85 

Lumber  camps,  work  in,  82 

—  grades  of,  80 

—  industry,  55,  64 

—  industry,  fortunes  made  in,  75 

—  industry  history  of,  76 

—  substitutes  for,  72 

—  supply  of,  66,  74 
Lumbering  and  forestry,  153 


Lumbering  hard- wood,  70 

—  in  South,  86 

—  on  Pacific  coast,  86 

Management,  intensive,  158 
Market  price,  145,  157 
Measuring  of  logs,  87 
Mensuration,  87,  216 
Mining  timber,  74 
Moisture  conditions,  16 

National  Parks,  232 
Naval  stores,  35 
Ne-Ha-Sa-Ne  Park,  241 
New  York,  forestry  in,  236 
Normal  forest,  138 

Periodicals  relating  to  forestry,  243 
Pinchot,  Gifford,  239 
Prairies,  9 

—  forests  advancing  on,  92 
Private  and  public  forests,  169 
Protection  forests,  131,  166 
Public  forests,  162 

—  lands,  161 

—  lands,  disposal  of,  189 

Rafting,  77 
Railroad,  logging,  80 
Railroads,  53,  54 
Reforestation,  natural,  133 
Roads,  148 
Rotation,  151 
Roth,  Filibert,  250 

Sand  barrens,  91 

—  barren,  agriculture  on,  191 
Sawmills,  early,  55 

—  first  in  America,  36 
Schenck,  Dr.  C.  A.,  240 
Second  growth,  67 
Seed  years,  24 
Selection  forests,  138 
Settlements  in  forest,  94 
Sheep,  injury  by,  119 
Silviculture,  7,  19,  21 

—  in  U.  S.,  239 

—  systems  of,  137 
Stumpage,  81 
Summer  resorts,  173 
Surveyor-General,  37 

Tan  bark,  63 

Tariff  on  lumber,  160,  224 


Index 


265 


Tar  making  by  Palatines,  39 
Taxation,  208 

—  reforms  proposed,  220 
Thinnings,  137 

Timber  belts  on  plains,  128 

—  lands  forfeited  for  unpaid  taxes, 

213 

—  thieves,  193 

—  value  of,  156,  158 
Transportation,  147 
Tree-claim  laws,  221 
Trees,  diameter-growth  of,  23 

—  height-growth  of,  21 

—  light  demands  of,  17 

—  shade-enduring,  17 

—  succession  of,  on  same  areas,  29 
Trespassers,  193 


Trespassers,  Carl  Schurz,  and  194 

Valuation,  213 
Vanderbilt,  Geo.  W.,  240 

Waterflow,  forests  and,  167 

Webb,  W.  S.,  241 

White  pine,  reproduction  of ,  154 

—  pine  substitutes  for,  69 

Whitney,  Wm.  C.,  241 

Windfalls,  27 

Wood  lots,  farmers',  90 

—  pulp,  62 

Woodsmen,  81 

Working  plans,  149 

Yield  tables,  142 


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"  A  book  of  first  class  importance.  .  .  .  Mr.  Scott  has  been  a  field  naturalist 
for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  and  few  persons  have  a  more  intimate  acquaintance 
than  he  with  bird  life.  His  work  will  take  high  rank  for  scientific  accuracy  and 
we  trust  it  may  prove  successful."— London  Speaker. 


WILD  FLOWERS  OF  THE  NORTHEASTERN  STATES.     Drawn 
and  carefully  described  from  life,  without  undue  use  of  scientific 
nomenclature,  by  EI,I,EN  HITHER  and  MARGARET  C.  WHITING. 
With  308  illustrations  the  size  of  life.     8°,  net,  $3.00. 
"  Anybody  who  can  read  English  can  use  the  work  and  make  his  identifica- 
tions, and,  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  flowers,  the  drawings  alone  furnish  all  that 
is  necessary.    .    .    .    The  descriptions  are  as  good  of  their  kind  as  the  drawings 
are  of  theirs."— N.  Y.  Times. 


THE  SHRUBS  OF  NORTHEASTERN  AMERICA.     By  CHARGES 

S.  NEWHAU,.     Fully  illustrated.     8°,  $1.75. 

"This  volume  is  beautifully  printed  on  beautiful  paper,  and  has  a  list  of  116 
illustrations  calculated  to  explain  the  text.  It  has  a  mine  of  precious  informa- 
tion, such  as  is  seldom  gathered  within  the  covers  of  such  a  volume." — Baltimore 
Partner. 

THE  VINES  OF  NORTHEASTERN  AMERICA.  By  CHARGES  S. 
NEWHAU,.  Fully  illustrated.  8°,  $1.75. 

"The  work  is  that  of  the  true  scientist,  artistically  presented  in  a  popular 
form  to  an  appreciative  class  of  readers." — The  Churchman. 

THE  TREES  OF  NORTHEASTERN  AMERICA.  By  CHARGES  S. 
NEWHAI,!,.  With  illustrations  made  from  tracings  of  the  leaves 
of  the  various  trees.  8°,  $1.75. 

"We  believe  this  is  the  most  complete  and  handsome  volume  of  its  kind,  and 
on  account  of  its  completeness  and  the  readiness  with  which  it  imparts  informa- 
tion that  everybody  needs  and  few  possess,  it  is  invaluable."—  Binghamton  Repub- 
lican.   

Q.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  27  &  29  West  23d  St.,  New  York 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR  2  4 1963 

\ 


RET'S 


LIBRARY,  BRANCH  OP  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  5m-8,'37(s) 


Bruncken 


North  American  forests 


ana  rarestiy. 


APR  g  4 196; 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


